Starring: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche
Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Well, the "real" critics didn?t like this one, but I thought John Q. was a very enjoyable movie. And to critics who would say that the movie is portraying an immoral character have missed the point.

The movie starring Denzel Washington, who's powerful acting is characteristically unparalleled, is about a man pushed beyond the brink of desperation by an uncaring medical system. His son Mike (Daniel E. Smith) is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and (long story short), the financially challenged John (Denzel) and his wife Denise Archibald (Kimberly Elise) are not adequately insured to pay for the very expensive heart transplant surgery he will need to live. John Q. then implements a rather unplausible plan to hold the emergency ward of the hospital hostage until his son is put on the top of the list for a new heart.

The theme was interesting but the movie was slightly too farfetched. First of all, the entire supporting cast is placed into one of two categories. Good or evil. The bad guys are all too off the wall to be credible. James Woods plays the uncompassionate doctor Turner, Ray Liotta (whom I find inherently funny for some reason) plays the grandstanding, blundering police chief Monroe. Anne Heche is the hospital administrator, the cigarette smoking Rebecca Payne (Pain? A little obvious, no?) who is encouraging the Archibalds to accept their son?s fate and make his last months or days of life as meaningful as they can. The good guys in the film are an assortment of other stereotypes that sometimes come off as being a comedy relief in the film.

The bad part of the film is that it didn't seem to take itself seriously. Some parts would have the audience laughing out loud at the sheer absurdity of the situation. John Q. doesn?t seem even remotely concerned that his hostages might try to escape, consistently turning his back on them, and leaving them unguarded. On many occasions he walks out into the open where any sniper worth his gun (or any 5 year old who has ever played duck hunt) could have easily shot him dead. In short, his plan would never have worked in a million years and the scenario would not have unfolded. The movie was far too unrealistic.

Despite that, John Q. is rich with some very touching moments between John Q and his family. In the movie, Denzel Washington delivers a good-bye speech to his son that is so powerfully delivered, that it is bound to draw tears from more sensitive viewers. Had MastaCSG not been horribly injured in a freak Visine accident, he would have probably been crying like some others in the theatre. Denzel can make some of the most trite and clich�d lines sound? well, not as bad as they should have. You feel for him throughout the movie, from the sad scenes to the tense ones. It made for an entertaining 2 hours.

The theme was one most people would relate to and the premise seemed so promising. Some critics say that the movie portrayed an immoral character, but I don?t think the movie was trying to condone his actions. I guess using terrorism to get your own way doesn?t have the same dashing Robin Hood-esque appeal it once did. Still the movie has several cop-outs that allow us to sidestep the moral consequences of his actions and convince us that John Q is a righteous guy.

The scenes were well directed, bringing us right in to see the mother's tears and giving us a panoramic view of the mobs of bystanders all cheering for John Q. The thing this movie lacked most was good writing, and apparently that?s kind of important. Go figure.

MastaCSG
Jack