John
Q. is an exposé about the 40 million
Americans who have no health insurance and millions
more who belong
to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that provide phony
health insurance. The hero, John Quincy Archibald
(played
by Denzel Washington), is a family man, a churchgoer, and
a well qualified skilled laborer. One day his son
Mikey (played
by Daniel E. Smith) falls to the ground during a Little League
game. After taking him to the emergency room of Hope
Hospital
in Chicago, he and his spouse Denise (played by Kimberly
Elise) learn from Dr. Turner (played by James Woods)
that their son
will die unless he has a heart transplant. Despite yearly
checkups, in which his heart was not part of the
examination
so that the HMO could cut costs and rebate physicians for
doing so, he is now on the verge of death. But neither
John
Q. nor his spouse have insurance coverage for a $75,000 down
payment for a heart transplant or for the $250,000
full cost,
as required by hospital administrator Rebecca Payne (played
by Anne Heche). Despite an insurance appeal, an application
for Medicaid, and other options, neither the government nor
the insurance company will help; a crusading television
reporter
also turns him down. One day, after Denise informs John Q.
that the hospital is about to discharge Mikey as
a patient,
John Q. arrives with a gun to take over management of the
emergency room until his son can receive a needed
transplant;
several hospital personnel, patients waiting for emergency
care, and Dr. Turner are hostages. Enter the Chicago
police, led by Frank Grimes (played by Robert Duvall),
who has spent
thirty-five years negotiating with those who hold hostages,
a gaggle of news reporters, and a crowd of wellwishers.
Although
Grimes tries to calm John Q. down, the heightened media publicity
prompts police chief Monroe (played by Ray Liotta)
to countermand
Grimes by sending a police sniper to kill John Q., an effort
that fails. Nevertheless, with tears down her cheeks,
Payne
decides to authorize a heart transplant, to be fully paid
by the hospital, provided that a donor can be found
soon.
Accordingly, John Q. decides to kill himself so that his
own heart can be used. Meanwhile, a driver killed
in a crash with
a truck has a heart that is suitable for Mikey's transplant.
The drama then consists of which heart will be transplanted,
as John Q. does not know about the incoming heart, but after
the successful operation, John Q. is put on trial,
exonerated
of attempted murder (his gun had no bullets) but found guilty
of taking hostages. John Q. begins with platitudes
by President
George W. Bush proved false as the film progresses and ends
with a montage of statements about the failure of
the American
health care system but does not depict the real villains
in the insurance industry. Much of the film, including
the montage,
has an annoying music score, perhaps intended to give audiences
a headache. Filmviewers are encouraged by Payne
to write members
of Congress and chided by one talk-show commentator for failing
to do so. The screenwriter, James Kearns, was inspired
to write the story after reading a news item in
1994 in which
a heart transplant recipient admitted that he would be dead
if he were not rich. As a film demonstrating, however
crudely,
how the politics of the health insurance industry impacts
ordinary Americans, the Political Film Society
has nominated
John Q., directed by Nick Cassavetes, as best
film exposé of 2002 and best film on the need for
greater democracy and human rights. MH
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