Read Time:1 Minute, 54 Second
This is one of those movies that I most likely would have never seen had it not
been one of my options for an in-flight movie on the six-hour flight from Boston to London (en route to Amsterdam). But really, there aren’t a lot of things that you can do on a long flight. It was either read or stare mindlessly at the little screen
in front of me. I went with the mindless option.
John Q stars Denzel Washington as a husband and father who’s seriously feeing the sting of a slow economy. Things are slow at the factory where he works, so he’s been reduced to part-time. He’s looking for another job, but no one else will hire him because he’s overqualified for jobs that are available. And even though his wife takes a job to help make ends meet, the bank still repossesses their car.
Then one day his son collapses on the baseball field during a game, and things start to get even worse.
John finds out that if his son doesn’t get a heart transplant, he’ll die. To make matters worse, John’s insurance was cut (without his knowledge) when he was reduced to part-time, and he only has a $20,000 policy to cover a $250,000 surgery. And unless he can somehow raise $75,000, the hospital won’t even add his son’s name to the transplant waiting list.
When things get even worse and he’s unable to raise enough money, John
decides to take matters into his own hands — and he walks into the hospital’s emergency room with a gun and holds his son’s heart specialist, two doctors, and a bunch of patients hostage.
John Q is a powerful drama (but, then again, it’s a movie with a sick kid — those are specially-designed to make you cry). The story is well-done, but it often feels like a thinly-veiled political statement. Several of the scenes are little more than attacks on HMOs and the American healthcare system in general. And at times, I felt like I was watching some paid advertising on late-night TV. It’s a decent movie — and if you’re looking for a good tear-jerker, this is it — but the
overpowering politics took away from the story.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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