John Q (2002)

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Produced by: Mark Burg

Writen by: James Kearns

Starring: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Kimberly Elise, Ray Liotta, Eddie Griffin

Music by: Aaron Zigman

Cinematography: Roger Stoffers

Editing by: Dede Allen

Rated: PG-13

Release Date: 15 February 2002

Budget: $36 million

Gross: $71,026,631

Runtime: 116 minutes

Distributed by: New Line Cinema

Country: United States

Trailer:

Synopsis:

At the beginning of the film we encounter a young woman (Gabriela Oltean) carelessly driving a car down a mountain highway. After being hit by two trucks, she dies (this scene is shown in pieces throughout the film). Later, John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington) and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) witness their son Michael (Daniel E. Smith) give way at his baseball game. After many exams  at the hospital, John is informed by Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods) and Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), a hospital administrator, that Michael has an enlarged heart and will need a transplant. Nonetheless, because the company he works for dropped him from full-time to part-time, his health insurance has changed. You see the new policy does not cover the surgery, leaving them to raise $75,000 of the $250,000 the surgery costs in order to get their son's name on the donor list. After the families attempts to raise money they come up short. Ultimately the hospital gets tired of waiting for payment and decides to discharge Michael. Unwilling to let his child die, John walks into the hospital ER with a handgun, gathers hostages, and sets demands: his son's name on the recipient list.

Meanwhile, John and the 11 hostages begin to learn more about each other. As crazy as that sounds, they seem to understand John's situation and support him as he ensures each of them that they will receive the treatment they need. One of hostages, Miriam (Troy Beyer), is pregnant, and another, Julie (Heather Wahlquist), has a broken arm. What is interesting about Julie is that her and her boyfriend Mitch (Shawn Hatosy) claim that a car crash caused the injury, but due to some miscommunication in their story John and another hostage, Lester (Eddie Griffin), are able to conclude that the two are lying and that in reality Mitch broke her arm.

After a while John agrees to release some hostages in return for his son's name being on the list. He releases Steve, Miriam and a hostage named Rosa (Martha Chaves) with her baby. The Chicago Chief of Police, Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta), gives a SWAT unit permission to insert a sniper into the building via an air shaft. John is shot but ends up receiving only a minor wound. After taking the shot, the sniper's leg falls through the ceiling tiles allowing for John to pull him out of the air shaft. He then takes the sniper as a human shield and steps outside where there are dozens of policemen pointing weapons at him as well as a large crowd that gathered to support his cause. John demands that his son be brought to the emergency room. The police agree to his demand in exchange for the SWAT sniper.

Once his son arrives, John reveals to the hostages his intention to commit suicide so his heart can be used to save his son. He persuades Dr. Turner to perform the surgery even though he knows that Dr. Turner will lose his job. As John finishes saying his last good-byes to Michael he loads a single bullet into the gun and pulls the trigger but the safety is on. He then raises the gun towards his head for the second time and just then Denise comes rushing in. She tells John about a woman killed in a car crash, the one from the opening scene, who happens to have the same blood type as Michael, and has been flown to the hospital for organ recovery. 

Finally, John releases his hostages and Michael is given the life-saving operation. After watching the procedure with Denise, John is taken into police custody. Three months later at his trial, all of the witnesses speak on his behalf. He is later acquitted of charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action but is found guilty of kidnapping and false imprisonment. It is never revealed what his sentence for the crime was but his lawyer is overheard saying that no judge will give him "more than three to five years" and that she will try and get it dropped to two. On his way to jail, one of the hostages says "John! Take care, mate. You're my hero.” Michael thanks his dad for saving his life, and gives him one of his favorite body building poses.

Critical Response:

The plot circles around the struggle John and Denise go through in order to provide medical care for their child—a task that seems unfeasible in the world we live in. When treatment for an illness is as costly as a heart transplant, it becomes difficult for any organization to take responsibility especially when you take into consideration the cost and ability to pay. No family of humble means could endure the cost of a procedure like heart transplant surgery. Paying for services becomes improbable for any but the wealthiest in society. In the lack of a national health care program, the options for payment for services are then diminished to employer paid health insurance and government programs for the needy. In the case of John Q, although the family is insured, their insurance does not cover this procedure. John Q is now faced with a moral dilemma to accept fate and arrange for his son’s funeral as the Hope Memorial Hospital administrator, Rebecca Payne has suggested, or raise funds for the procedure, which is an overwhelming task when you think of the time and nature of the situation his son is in.

How does the society value the life of the boy? No timely exception to the rules about lack of coverage is made available by the social worker with whom John Q speaks. Would it be different if Michael were not African American and lower middle class?

While John is in the ER with his hostages, he is faced with an ethical dilemma; he has a pregnant woman who needs treatment at a different facility and a lady who cannot speak English.  When Lieutenant Frank asks him to release hostages John’s dilemma tears him between leaving the women in the ER where they will die and giving in to the police by releasing them.  One result stresses his need to find a heart for his son while the other saves the lives of hostages.  At the end he shows his humbleness by setting hostages free.

     

By releasing the most helpless patients during the hostage John shows his good side. Even though he portrayed a poor character when using the gun (which did not even contain bullets)  to hold up the hospital staff, he freed the patients needing immediate help making it clear that he is a man of integrity. His actions, his ran-some demand and the treatment of his hostages show his intentions of hurting no one, but rather an attempt to save his son’s life.

     

Another ethical aspect that comes to light in the movie is dishonesty.  The human resource department at John’s work place changed his insurance from PPO to HMO without explaining the difference among the two and how it will affect him and his family.  Health insurance and other employee benefits are very obscure, and should rightfully be explained to employees before making any changes.

Dishonesty is also portrayed by Rebecca Payne, Hope Hospital Senior Supervisor when she lied to Denise by telling her that her son’s name had been added to the donor list.  This unethical lie nearly cost John his life as he believed that his son’s name had been added to the organ recipient list. Earlier in the movie John was going to take his own life so that his son could have his heart.