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Frank Q
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'John Q' review
There has been an internal debate raging at TNMC headquarters for many months now over Denzel Washington. It all started when 'Fabio' (an occasional writer for the site who sits across from me in the office) brought up his Denzel theory. 'Fabio' feels that since Glory, Denzel Washington has fallen into a rut, essentially playing the same role over and over. He always plays the ultra-intelligent guy who will win in the end because he can think circle around everyone else. As a result, Fabio refuses to go to any of his movies because he already knows what will happen. The fact that Washington is a highly talented actor who can bring even the most thinly written characters to life is totally lost on Fabio.
I mention this because, unfortunately, John Q will do nothing to silence this debate. The title character is seemingly custom written for Washington, leaving me very little hope of ever winning this argument. More on that in a little bit. John Q was written by James Kearns and was directed by jack of all trades Nick Cassavetes. The script I'm working from was dated June 2000.
The story is of factory worker John Q. Archibald (Washington). His hours have been slashed in half and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) has had to start working as a supermarket cashier to help pay the bills. They're nearly broke and her car has just been repossessed. Only their nine year old son Mike seems to be a bright spot for them at this point. However tragedy strikes when Mike collapses during a little league game and has to be rushed to the hospital. He has a congenital heart problem that will kill him if he doesn't receive a heart transplant.
Unfortunately, as a result of John's slashed hours, he no longer receives full health insurance and the cost of the operation is a quarter million dollars. The hospital administrator (Anne Heche), aware of the Archibald's tenuous financial position, is unwilling to place Mike on the list of people awaiting donors unless they can come up with at least thirty percent of the bill. They try every possible option for aid but repeatedly slip between the cracks, too much income to qualify for government assistance but not enough to afford the operation. Eventually John snaps and storms into the hospital with a gun, seizing control of the emergency room and demanding his son be placed on the list or he'll start killing hostages.
By dealing with the issue of health care and insurance, Kearns looks to touch a raw nerve in the viewer. Most everyone in this country has heard of or experienced horror stories about poor health care driven by uncaring HMOs and insurance companies that will do anything to save a buck. While this will surely provoke reactions from viewers, it's a case of preaching to the choir. The script ends up harping on an obvious point without offering any ideas for alleviating the problem. Obviously, taking hospitals hostage isn't really a viable solution. The script really doesn't have anything to say on the subject other than "it's bad." When you bring up this many moral dilemmas you should really have something to say about them or it ends up feeling a bit too fluffy.
John Q is someone who values his family above all else. When his son's life is threatened, he is willing to literally sacrifice everything to save him. As a result, the script puts a spin on the typical hostage situation by making him a figure sympathetic to just about everyone. Most of John's captives feel for him, the media loves him and even some of the police like him. It's a nice deviation from the norm but is probably pushing the edges of believability just a bit.
The character John Q is really the only well written role in the movie. I was a little surprised to see name actors like Robert Duvall, Anne Heche, Ray Liotta and James Woods attached to play a number of the secondary roles. There just doesn't seem to be all that much to work with for such respected actors. Denzel Washington will have his usual plum role to work with though. It's absolutely perfect for him and brings to mind many of his previous roles which is exactly why it disappointed me. We've seen him do this many times before. He's far too talented an actor to be constantly covering well worn ground instead of stretching himself.
The script also uses a pair of items to foreshadow the ending that I found to be fairly annoying. Their presence makes the ending extremely predictable, robbing the story of a lot of it's tension. Removing or greatly reducing these elements would help immensely.
That's not to say that this is a bad script. It's a very easy read and I was able to plow through it in no time at all. It has plenty of opportunity for building tension and tugging relentlessly at the heart strings. It's a shameless crowd pleaser that will probably get a lukewarm reception from critics and ring up huge box office totals anyway.
Review by John Shea.
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You Game?
Last year, I created a private group at Yahoo's Oscars Pick'em game. The challenge was really amazing and it was also extremely fun. We're doing it again this time around. In order to join the group, just go to http://moviegames.yahoo.com/oscars, create a pick set and choose "Join a Private Group." Then, when prompted, enter the following information...
Group ID#: 4555
Password: tnmc
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
