John Q Movie Review 2002

"Dog Day Afternoon" lite is essentially a two hour tirade against the U.S. health system (who can blame them?) which casts Washington as the title's everyman hero who's desperate and gutsy enough to bypass medical bureaucracy altogether to get his 10-year old son Mike (Smith) the heart transplant he desperately needs to live. John Quincy Archibald's plant has just cut his hours, and when his HMO gives him the run-around, he is forced to come up with the $75,000 for his son's operation. Unable to come up with it, John Q. takes over the ER and demands his son be placed at the top of the transplant list. Talented cast, including Duvall as the sympathetic police negotiator, Woods as the cynical doctor, and Liotta, as the boldly drawn police chief, is generally wasted on the sentimental and melodramatic one-note premise.

Distribution

Warner Home Video, Inc., 5775 Linder Canyon Rd., Westlake Village, CA 91362, URL: http://whv.warnerbros.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 118 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Dads, Hospitals & Medicine, Hostage!, Chicago, Hearts!, Organ Transplants

Screenplay

James Kearns

Cast

Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Eddie Griffin, Kimberly Elise, Shawn Hatosy, Ray Liotta, Daniel E. Smith, David Thornton, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Connolly, Paul Johansson, Troy Beyer, Obba Babatunde, Laura Elena Harring

Cinematography

Rogier Stoffers

Director

Nick Cassavetes

Music

Aaron Zigman

Other

David Lee, Dede Allen, Thomas Carnegie, Elis Lam, Beatrix Aruna Pazster, Stefania Cella

Producer

Mark Burg, Oren Koules, New Line Cinema