John Q (2002)

Director:

Nick Cassavetes

Writer (WGA):

James Kearns (written by)

Release Date:

15 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Give a father no options and you leave him no choice.

Plot:

A down-on-his luck father, whose insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant, takes the hospital's emergency room hostage until the doctors agree to perform the operation.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Emergency Room | Hostage | Baseball | Heart Transplant

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Gabriela Oltean	...	Beautiful BMW Driver
Denzel Washington	...	John Quincy Archibald
Kimberly Elise	...	Denise Archibald
Ron Annabelle	...	Tow Truck Driver
Daniel E. Smith	...	Michael 'Mike' Archibald
David Thornton	...	Jimmy Palumbo
Barry G. King	...	Employee Manager
Laura Harring	...	Gina Palumbo (as Laura Elena Harring)
Kevin Connolly	...	Steve Maguire
Larissa Laskin	...	Dr. Ellen Klein
Vanessa Branch	...	Registered Nurse
Stephanie Moore	...	Admitting Nurse
James Finnerty	...	Nurse Reggie
Anne Heche	...	Rebecca Payne
James Woods	...	Dr. Raymond Turner

Also Known As:

John Q. (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and intense thematic elements.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Venezuela:PG-13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38323) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | France:U | Singapore:PG (cut) | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Nick Cassavetes]A reporter on the courthouse steps at the end.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the opening scene, "beautiful woman" sticks her head out of her car window, and her hair does not move.

Quotes:

Denise: They are releasing him, now you need to do something! DO YOU HEAR ME! DO SOMETHING!

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Justice of the Heart

John Q. is solid.

***

Starring: Denzel Washington, Kimberly Elise, Robert Duvall, and ray Liotta.

John Q. is basically what the tagline says it is. You leave a father no options, you leave him no choice. That's pretty much true. Washington plays John Q. Archibald, a loving husband and caring father who must come up with 250,000 dollars to pay for his son' heart transplant or watch him die. You got to see how the hospital is unfair to John. He even states that it gives 75,000,000 dollars worth of heart transplants for free to a certain amount of people and they wouldn't give it to him from good will. John an his family are very poor and you see how hard it is for him to do this. He takes the hospital hostage to get his son a heart transplant. The movie is very solid and intelligent. There couldn't have been a better actor for John than Denzel. He is one of the greatest actors of our time and he helps prove it here. Don't listen to what Ebert says and go rent this movie.