John Q is a 2002 film by Nick Cassavetes; starring Denzel Washington as John Quincy Archibald, a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the recipient's list.
The film also stars Kimberly Elise, Anne Heche, James Woods, Ray Liotta, Eddie Griffin and Robert Duvall, among others.
The film was shot in Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario(ballpark scenes), and Canmore, Alberta,[1] although the story takes place in Chicago.
Plot
As the film opens, a young woman is recklessly driving a white BMW down a mountain highway. A slow-moving truck impedes her progress, and she attempts to pass it by moving into the oncoming lane of traffic, on a blind curve. Suddenly, a second truck looms in the oncoming lane, and it clips the woman's rear fender. The woman spins and comes to a stop in front of the first truck, which broadsides her car, and she dies on route to the hospital (this whole ordeal is interspersed throughout the movie).
John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington) is with his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) at his son's baseball game. As his son (Daniel E. Smith) runs around the bases and heads to second, he grabs his chest and collapses. After a series of tests at the hospital, John is informed that Michael has an enlarged heart and will need a transplant. However, his health insurance has been changed by the company he works for to a cheaper option and the new policy does not cover the surgery, so they must raise $75,000 (30% of the $250,000 transplant fee) in order to get their son's name on the list of likely recipients of an available heart. The family tries to raise the money by selling some of their possessions and helping out their neighbors, but to no avail. Eventually, the hospital gets tired of waiting for payment and decides to release Michael. John walks into the hospital emergency room and begins a hostage situation. He gathers the hostages and sets his demands: his son's name on the recipient list as soon as possible. The hostage negotiator, Lt. Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall), stands down to let John cool off.
Meanwhile, John and the 11 hostages communicate and learn more about each other. They begin to understand John's situation and support him a little as he ensures each of them receive the treatment they came to the emergency room for. One of them, Miriam (Troy Beyer), is pregnant and her husband Steve (Troy Winbush) is hoping that their first kid is healthy. A young hostage, Julie (Heather Wahlquist), has a broken arm, and she and her boyfriend Mitch (Shawn Hatosy) claim that a car crash caused it, but due to some holes in their story (and the fact that Mitch's only injuries are scratches on his arm) John and another hostage, Lester (Eddie Griffin), are able to conclude that the two are lying and that Mitch had actually beat Julie up.
After a while, John agrees to release some hostages (as one of them is about to give birth and needs to go to the maternity ward but he doesn't give the police this reason) in return for his son's name being on the list an hour afterward. Steve and Mitch have an argument about who will walk out, and during the argument, Mitch says a racial statement to Steve, which infuriates him and he starts to shove Mitch around. But, when John tries to break them up, Mitch sprays him with ethyl chloride, used as a makeshift pepper spray type device, and stabs him with a scalpel. They fall to the ground and wrestle, and the gun is knocked away. Mitch tells Julie to get the gun, but instead, she picks up the ethyl chloride and sprays Mitch at close range. Blinded and furious, he insults her, and she kicks him three times; twice in the backside and once in the crotch. Some of the hostages laugh at this and praise Julie for taking a stand against Mitch. She then pulls off a blonde wig, throws it on him, and tells him she's not going to be his "Barbie" anymore. John then takes some handcuffs from the security guard, Max (Ethan Suplee), then tosses the wig on Mitch, pulls him over to the radiator and cuffs him to it. Then he releases Steve, Miriam, and a hostage named Rosa (Martha Chaves) with her baby.
The Chicago Chief of Police, Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta), overrides the efforts of Lt. Frank Grimes and gives a SWAT unit permission to insert a sniper into the building via an air shaft. Meanwhile, John speaks with his wife and then his son, telling them that the situation will be all right, unaware that a hidden camera in the hospital has been hacked by a news crew, and that his emotional conversation is being broadcast live on national television. John then realizes the phone call is being broadcast and sees the sniper about to shoot him. John, while trying to avoid getting hit, is shot and ends up receiving only a minor wound.
After taking the shot, the sniper's leg falls through the ceiling tiles and the outraged John gets up and pulls him out of the air shaft and beats him up. John's gunshot wound is treated by the emergency room staff, and using the bound SWAT policeman as a human shield, he steps outside to the sight of dozens of policemen pointing weapons at him, as well as a large crowd gathered to support his cause. John demands that his son be brought to the emergency room, saying "I am not going to bury my son, my son is going to bury me!". 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. Raymond Turner (James Woods) to perform the operation, and two of his hostages to bear witness to a will stating his last request. John goes to say his last goodbyes to Michael, telling him to obey his mother and live honestly and responsibly. He tearfully leaves his barely-conscious son and goes to the operating room, where he reveals to the doctor and emergency room personnel that his gun was unloaded the entire time he held them hostage. John loads a single bullet into the gun and pulls the trigger, only to learn that the safety is on. As he holds the gun to his own head a second time and prepares to end his life, his wife is told 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. She runs to the emergency room and stops her husband from shooting himself, and John allows the hostages to go free. Michael is given the life-saving operation, and after watching the procedure with Denise, John is taken into police custody. He is later acquitted of charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action, but is found guilty of kidnapping. It is never revealed what his sentence for the crime will be, but his lawyer is overheard saying that no judge will give him "no more than 3-5 years" and that she'll try and get it dropped to two.
Reception
The film received generally poor reviews upon its release. The film currently holds a 22% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
References
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