mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

SnoopyStyle In Chicago, John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington) and wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) are struggling financially. Their son Mike collapses at the baseball game. Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche) is the hospital president and Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods) is their cardiac surgeon. Mike needs a heart transplant but the HMO won't cover the minimum $250k. They can't get any help no matter how hard they try. In desperation, an armed John takes over the emergency room. Police Lt. Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall) negotiates with him.It's an over-the-edge melodrama. The problem is that everything is pushed to the edge. Denzel is crying in the first 15 minutes. I appreciate the message but it's lost in the montage of frustration. Denzel is pushing so hard to be hyper angry that it's difficult to root for him. If Denzel and Kimberly could calm down early on, the audience could embrace them. In fact, everybody seems to be yelling in this movie. It's a hard movie to like.

donnyx Despite all the on-cue cheering from the crowd, John Q is a piece of irresponsible agitprop (especially for a movie released in 2002, one year after 9/11) that sanctions vengeance, mob rule and anarchy. How many patient and law-abiding parents did John Q leap-frog in order to get immediate care for HIS offspring? (Talk about the 'selfish gene'!) Of course, writer James Kearns makes it all work out for the best -- to the point that the hospital actually seems to run better when it's being lorded over by a hothead with a gun. But then Kearns had improbably staffed the hospital with a fiendish administrator who was a cross between Eva Braun and Anne Robinson of the Weakest Link -- for which the script writer, incidentally, owes an apology to the vast majority of hospital administrators who (agitprop notwithstanding) actually have a heart -- and are forced to work within restraints that are for the overall benefit of everybody and shouldn't be subject to veto by any angry parent with a firearm.I could tolerate this film if John Q had shown any repentance at all, ever -- but far from it, he rides off into the sunset (to an incredibly short stint in the pokey) with a self-satisfied smirk on his face -- apparently totally uninterested in the fate of the sniper whom he gratuitously sucker punched so hard as to likely cause internal bleeding that could easily lead to death in real life -- possibly depriving that sniper's son of a father. But then John Q has made it clear all along that he's not interested in "sons" in the abstract: he just cares about his own son, thank you very much.If I could have rewritten the movie, I would have ended it with the grown Mike (now enrolled in college) chastising his father as follows:Mike: "Dad, I'm grateful for you saving my life, but..." Dad: "But what, son?" Mike: "Well, it's just that I've been reading Immanuel Kant in philosophy class and...." Dad: "You've been reading WHAT?" Mike: "And I fail to see how your actions square with the Categorical Imperative." Dad: "Look, you got a new heart, son: be happy." Mike: (after a moment of frustrated silence) "Dad, have you ever even HEARD of the word 'ignoble'???"

mattkratz This is a movie that draws out the phrase, "desperate times call for desperate measures." Washington plays a guy whose son collapses during a little game of a heart condition and needs a serious operation and, when his insurance won't cover it, takes everyone in the emergency room hostage till he can work something out. Robert Duvall plays the hostage negotiator. They work beautifully together. The kid was good in it too. I think this was a good movie, and Washington was terrific, as always. My favorite line:when asked if anyone is hurt, Washington says, "It's an emergency room. They're all hurt." The cast works well together, and it builds up steam & suspense well. A good way to spend a few hours watching a movie.** 1/2 out of ****

Bosco-HK Denzel Washington plays John Quincy Archibald, father of Mike (Daniel E. Smith) falls hard all of a sudden at a baseball game, which ultimately set the story in motion. The diagnosis, needing a heart transplant, everything only get harder when John goes to the insurance company and finds that his insurance does not cover this type of procedure.The movie tells about an American society that has been blinded by capitalism. Everything is in the dire hands of 'Money'. The hospital, unwilling to do what they would normally do to save someone's life, turns a head… only to put his son onto the transplant list if they had the money. James Woods who stars as Dr. Raymond Turner, display rigidness of professionalism, while Anne Heche who stars as Rebecca Payne, display utter coldness that nearly got me wanting to pick up a chair and throw it at her.Every day even before what had just happened, John and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) tries their best to make ends meet, and then now trying and doing everything possible to collect money needed just to get his son on the list. A father, loving and caring, must come up with 250,000 dollars to pay for his son's heart transplant. Their friends, and countless others, do their best to help the couple raise money. Soon, almost everything they have is on the market and sold.It was not enough. Out of options, and out of time, a father pushed to the limits to save his son. In all desperation and having hardly enough to get anything accomplished, John holds the entire hospital's emergency room hostage. He sets the one demand for his son to be put on that list so that the doctors can proceed with the transplant. The ending only leaves you chills to the bone as to what a father is left to do in order to be heard.Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of our time and he proves it here playing a father in utter distraught. I recommend this movie!