John Q

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

John Q is the story of a decent, hardworking man (Denzel Washington) who, after learning his son needs a heart transplant and his HMO is DOA, meets dead end after dead end in an effort to raise the money. Driven to the brink, he kidnaps an entire ER and bargains for his boy’s life. If anyone other than Washington had been cast as the father, this movie would have been a laughable waste of time. As it is, it’s only partially a waste of time.

While the plot is stirring (anyone who’s ever had to deal with insurance companies will automatically relate), the plot devices leave a bit to be desired. Not only does “John Q” manage to corral an entire ER without so much as generating a puzzled look from the rest of the hospital, he manages to corral an ER filled exclusively with failed sitcom characters. The attempts at personal epiphanies and comic relief take away from a movie striving so hard to be taken seriously. By the time Robert Duvall shows up playing the same guy he played in Falling Down (only named “Frank Grimes” this time, ensuring that every Simpsons fan in the audience will snicker every time he says his name), the movie is in danger of blowing everything it has tried to establish. However, John Q wrings some value out of James Woods as a sleazy heart surgeon and, as we said, out of Washington’s gravity as an actor; even when things get outright ridiculous, he pulls us back in.