Product Description

Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars in this powerful drama about a father who takes extreme measures to save his son's life when his insurance company refuses to cover his heart transplant surgery.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
DVD ROM exclusive web site
Deleted Scenes
Documentaries
Theatrical Trailer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10576 in DVD
• Brand: NEW LINE HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2002-07-16
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.com
It's impossible to walk away from John Q. without thinking about the film that could have been. The pathetic state of health care in the U.S. and the desperate behavior it engenders is not only worthy but edgy material; no doubt director Nick Cassavetes (She's So Lovely) and Denzel Washington (as well as Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, James Woods, and Anne Heche) were drawn to the provocative pitch. The only snag is that John Q. has about as much edge as an after-school special. Washington plays John Quincy Archibald, a hard-working factory worker whose house stands to be repossessed and whose lovely wife (Kimberly Elise) is at her wits' end. When his extremely cute son collapses while rounding the bases in a Little League game, things go from bad to worse. John Q. takes a downtown Chicago emergency room hostage when he learns that the heart transplant his son needs won't be performed because his health care doesn't cover it. The action-drama that ensues--replete with one-liners, stilted debate, inept snipers, and multiple references to O.J. Simpson's white Bronco--is so littered with clichés that the issues, timely ones, get lost in a crescendo of melodrama. --Fionn Meade

DVD features
The DVD extras include "Fighting for Care," a documentary featurette, as well as audio commentary from the director, screenwriter, producer, and director of photography. One can also select optional Infinifilm pop-ups that trigger one- to two-minute expansions on the movie. The pop-ups can be simple cast bios, commentary from the actors and directors, screen-test footage, and how-did-they-do-that? setup shots, but many of them are further illustrations of the trials a patient in need of an organ transplant can face. Taken together, they become a more scathing indictment of insurance companies and the American healthcare system than the film itself. --Ali Davis

From The New Yorker
When his young son needs a heart transplant and his insurance won't cover the operation, a Chicago machinist (Denzel Washington) takes a prominent surgeon (James Woods) and a number of patients hostage, threatening to kill his captives if his son doesn't get a new ticker. This tearjerker, written by James Kearns and directed by Nick Cassavetes, is a trashy, opportunistic work that appears to have been intentionally pitched low in order to rouse an audience that the filmmakers view as politically somnolent. They may have calculated correctly: the movie is badly written, directed, and acted, yet the people in the theatre, fed up with the health-care system, seem alive to the picture and shout back at the screen. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

"Fighting for Care"
"John Q" is good for some thought-provoking ideas and questions concerning the ever-growing problems with our nation's health care policies, as well as some hard-hitting performances from its arsenal of talented actors. For these reasons, the movie qualifies as an average crowd pleaser, though it's predictability, as well as some cloyed storytelling in its second half, keep it from being the powerful drama it aspires to be.

Washington gives an outstanding performance, but is dragged by Elise's crying.... This is not one of those movies that are only worth watching on video, it's a great movie that I recommend to everyone who's mature enough to watch a boy dying right in front of his parents, at 10. Think about that. One of Washington's best line in this film is," I will not bury my son, my son is going to bury me!" Denzel Washington is amazing as always, and I've seen most of his films, I've never once been disappointed. He can play anything, and his role as a caring father in this film was enough to make me want to rate this three stars alone. But once you throw in solid dialogue, a great plot and other supporting actors, you have yourself one truly great movie.

I was disappointed by one aspect of this movie: the fact that it wasn't released earlier that year, because Washington surely would've received an Oscar nomination for this instead of "Training Day". It's hard to not like this movie and impossible to not feel for the characters. I'll see this movie again and I hope that by reading this review you'll see it too.

A great movie!
John Q is definitely a wonderful movie, full of a lot heart. Denzel Washington does an outstanding job as John Q. In my opinion, an even better job than in Training Day. He should definitely get an oscar for this one.
John Q is essentially about a man whose son encounters a life threatening medical situation. His job has changed medical plans and his hours have been cut, all more or less without him being aware of it. When told his son needs a heart transplant, he finds out that his insurance won't really be there help out. As a good father, he does every thing he can, within the system to get this surgery for his son, but to no avail. He's left with no options, so he chooses to basically kidnap the ER and his son's heart surgeon.
Overall a very gut wrenching at times and extremely enlightening film. While not approving of his final solution, John Q is a very good movie, that brings to the spotlight some facts about health care in our country!

Great Actors, Average Plot
Firstly, the plot is weak in places. It is predictable, it is clished, it is a Hollywood blockbuster. Without the cast it would be 3 stars, or less.

But, with the acting ability of the whole cast, the film is saved. Denzel Washington plays John Q. Archibald, who's son needs a heart transplant, but of course, its gonna cost ya. James Woods plays the evil dude once again, and tells John he needs to pay 250k, but unfortunately John is not insured and cannot pay it, and his son will die. So, the rational explanation is obviously to hijack the ER and hold everyone hostage until they put his son on the transplant list. Robert Duvall plays the police negotiator, who you snense feels almost sorry for John, but Ray Liotta comes in and plays mr. steelballs ordering someone to snipe John. The plot unravels (predictably) but ends well, leaving you feeling all nice and warm inside.

Very good cast, acting, ok plot, 4 stars.