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 he Denzel Washington movie "John Q" is a Fight
the System film in the same vein of Michael Douglas' "Falling
Down." Fight the System movies rely on a system (re: the establishment)
that is a bane in people's lives. "John Q" chooses the healthcare
establishment as its enemy, and it chose wisely, since the whole subject of
national healthcare is still a major debating point in 2002.
Washington is John Archibald, a blue-collar machinist just
trying to make ends meat and care for his family. He's not the smartest guy in
the world, is even a little too stubborn, but he's kind, he's good to his son
and wife, and he cares about people. When John's son Mikey falls ill because of
heart failure, John runs into the debacle that is the current healthcare system,
mainly the nightmare that is the HMO establishment. Not only has John's company
lowered his coverage without informing him, but the hospital and its
administration is threatening to kick poor Mikey into the streets unless his
bills are paid!
All of this, and Mikey needs a heart transplant or otherwise
he'll die. But without proper insurance, John can't afford the hospital's
$250,000 asking fee! Talk about pressure. Without any other recourse, John takes
the hospital emergency room hostage with a gun and a steely determination to see
justice done.
There are a number of problems with "John Q" that
prevents the film from achieving greatness, or even a very good social
commentary. As it stands, the film is just good, with its problems stemming
mainly from lazy writing. James Kearns' screenplay is filled with stereotypical
characters that are completely one personality in the film's first half and a
whole different personality in the second, as if they were all given personality
transplants in-between halves. The sudden reversals in people's personalities
– a trait conditioned by years of living – are unconvincing, even if there's
a guy with a gun in your face, which might force you to rethink a few things.
A character that best embodies this hasty transformation is
an abusive youth who is held hostage in the emergency room along with his
girlfriend; the girlfriend's arm is broken and she has a black eye, and it
becomes known that the boyfriend is responsible for both. As one character calls
the youth, he's from the "slap your ho" tribe. But suddenly this
abusive, loudmouth, and vitriolic character becomes John Q's biggest cheerleader
by the film's second half! This great epiphany, mind you, occurs after
the youth has tried to kill John with a syringe and the two tussled for John's
gun, leaving the youth bloodied, with a few broken ribs, and a bruised, er,
crotch area.
Director Nick Cassavetes also has a bad habit of turning up
the soundtrack at the most inappropriate moments. The worst part of it is there
isn't any need for Cassavetes to try to play with our heartstrings, mostly
because Washington conveys all these emotions as the working stiff with the
paunchy gut and old truck.
The set-up for John's eventual breakdown and his taking
over of the emergency room is well done, and Kearns spends about 20 minutes
taking us through every single encounter, interview, and meeting that John and
his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) must take in order to find some help for their
son. It's quite painful to watch as one person after another turns them away
without so much as fake sympathy; and the worst part of it is, some of the very
unhelpful people in the movie aren't just stock characters, but they actually
exist in real life! I know because I've met a few of them.
Some of the familiar characters that show up as a result of
John Q's hostage taking is Robert Duvall, who was also in the other Fight the
System movie "Falling
Down," where he also played a cop. (Get stereotyped much, Robert?) Ray
Liotta makes an appearance as the resident politician/asshole/police superior
who gets in the way of Duvall's veteran cop. Of course, no hostage movie is
complete without the jerk of a reporter who is only looking out for himself. In
this case it's Paul Johansson in a cartoonish turn as the improbably named Tuck
Lampley.
Been there, done that, don't want the T-shirt.
The film also makes too many speeches instead of just
letting the situation dictate its message. On more than one occasion characters
deliver such well-written speeches via Kearns' screenplay that I kept looking
for the soapbox underneath their feet. I could have done without the sermons,
and would have liked the movie to make its points naturally as the movie
progresses, not stop everything for a speech moment. There is just a part of me
that hates to be lectured to so blatantly.
Overall, "John Q" is an exciting and interesting
film. Washington's performance keeps everything together and the man is truly
one of the best actors of our generation. In spite of its cardboard characters
and their unconvincing (and highly improbable) changes of hearts (not to mention
attitudes and personalities), the film could still have made a lasting
impression if only it hadn't taken the easy road out. There is a moment there,
toward the end, where the film had just a sliver of a chance to become poetic,
but instead the filmmakers went for…
Well, you'll see for yourself. It's just so…Hollywood.
Which is unfortunate, but there you have it.
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