Rating: 
Summary: John Q. Public Versus The HMO System
Review: John Quincy Archibald (played by Denzel Washington)is a hard working middle-class everyday laborer, trying to supply a normal life for his family. His wife works to supplement his salary. They struggle to make ends meet, but provide a happy home for their only child. That happy life is shattered when John's son collapses at a Little League Baseball game. That's when John discovers that his son has a heart condition that can only be corrected through surgery. John's son needs a heart transplant. No problem, thinks John, I have insurance. We're covered. Well, John soon discovers that his insurance will not cover the costly operation, nor will the hospital allow the surgery until it receives a downpayment for it. John, hi wife, family, and friends struggle to raise money for the surgery, only to discover that the hospital is planning to release the child without placing him on the donor's list. John Q. Armstrong, his back against the wall, does the only thing he can do. He fights for his son's life, taking his battle to the hospital's ER.
This is a heartbreaking story which is all-to-close to the truth. HMO's have become a rising problem in America. People who have money and can afford better insurance or private care get better treatment in hospitals, while others who are insured by HMOs only get as much care as their insurance provider allows. And try showing up to a hospital ER without insurance! This movie brings awareness to the public at large of the atrocious health care system that scorns the "common Joe", the average lower to middle class families, the "John Q. Publics" out there!
Well done! The actors, an ensamble cast featuring Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, and Ann Heche, are believable in their roles and the story is real. So real that I checked the credits to see if this was based on a true story. This is a movie worthy of Oscar praise!
Rating: 
Summary: Preposterous in the extreme
Review: Basking in the misinformation regarding HMO's and the health care system, this movie portrays a hospital that after explaining a costly medical procedure, apparently does not discuss payment options, only demanding money upfront ... then they disconnect little boys from medical machines so they can die. If you accept those premises, you can cheer for Denzel. If you are tired of being pummelled from all sides by the media's misconceptions of our health care system you will roll your eyes and wish you never bought this film.The Chicago police are portrayed as war mongering dolts. With a gunman in the building the police setup just outside the door of the emergency room where he is hiding. Then they allow onlookers to line up RIGHT BEHIND THE COPS, so that if John Q misses the cops, it will travel 20 feet past the cops and into the crowd. Worse, the crowd is nothing more than a Ricki Lake audience that cheers anything John Q says. Because John Q is Denzel, the audience response seems genuine but more like fans of Denzel cheering for Denzel rather than an outraged group of justice seekers. The final straw is the end where we are blasted with a slick photo montage of news footage featuring our heros, Hillary Clinton et al demanding something be done about our health care system. This movie is such disinformation and misguided propoganda that it makes me ill. I do not defend the health system as perfect, however, in general, our system is the best in world and is the best because it has the most free system of research. There are problems but they are not solved but emotion laiden drivel.
Rating:
Summary: The movie worked as designed!
Review: As a guy (like most), I feel that for a movie to be good, someone's gotta die in the first 5 minutes. This movie corrected this viewpoint to the other side by hoping one principle in the movie would NOT die. Another thing that makes this a solid four star movie, is it got my wife crying. Still, I do not understand why a person can cry at a movie while at the same time saying it was "A really good movie." Oh well, some things are not meant to be understood. The movie itself was well written and directed. And as a die-hard Denzel fan, I think that he performed better than I've EVER seen him (even in Training Day). Four solid stars. (I would have given it five, but Denzel didn't have the dang gun loaded! Watch the movie.
- Mikasaurus
Rating: 
Summary: POWERFUL AND INTENSE
Review: I Was about to watch this movie and i thought it would be a very slow sad movie. But when the movie got going I realized that it's extremely intense thriller.Now it still had its drama to it (don't get me wrong). The movie kaept you guessing until the end, And when it was over you felt so moved touched by the real drama in the movie. If you rent or buy any movie this year make it this one
Rating:
Summary: The worst movie in the last 5 years
Review: This is hands down the worst movie I have seen in the past 5 years. Even though the cast looked promising and the story line o.k., the execution, primarilty the directing was just pathetic. This one warrants a rental at best - out of sheer morbid curiosity.
Rating: 
Summary: must have been a Contract film for Denzel
Review: this the kind of film that must have been a Contract Obligation for Denzel Washington because this Film is So Cliched&a One trick pony of the first order in every which a way.Denzel does a Good Acting as Usual but this Film overall is very Predictable&just there.the Kind of Film you watch&you are done with it.
Rating:
Summary: I love a good melodrama, but this is ridiculous
Review: For a film so reviled by nearly every critic in America and by no means a box-office smash, it is surprising that John Q is earning a 4-star average rating on Amazon.com. I won't say that the movie is more dead-on than I would like to think, or that it lacks technical merit, for Denzel Washington gives a fine performance as the title character and Robert Duvall also gives a good performance as the anachronistic hostage negotiator. James Woods also does a good job as a heart surgeon torn by his desire to help and his desire to keep his career. The movie looks and sounds fine, but the score is a bit too melodramatic, which sort of punctuates the entire film like an exclamation point. In short, this movie lacks nuance and charm, and it is always at the point of becoming a good movie, but that point never comes....
Rating:
Summary: Now THIS is an Oscar performance
Review: I cant say anything about the movie besides what has already been written by the previous reviewers. Denzel gives a POWERFUL performance; 100 times better than his "Oscar winning performance" of Training Day. Not that Training Day was a bad movie, but Denzel far outshines that performance in John Q. Denzel draws you into the movie to the point where you feel the anger, frustration, and desperation his character is feeling. This movie is a must have for ALL people, whether you are a parent or not. I saw more people crying and hugging their children leaving the theatre than for any other movie I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best this year!
Review: This film is AMAZING! Denzel Washington's preformance has to be the best he's ever done if not could ever do, he is so believable I will probably refer to him from now on as John Q instead of Denzel. The story is compelling and not to far from reality of the American Health "Care" System or lack there of, and along with entertaining, I should expect this film to act as an informant and political point to the poor system that is the American Health Care and perhaps bring upon the begining of a revolution so that the plot of this film stay's just that a fictional movie and not a last resort reality.
Rating:
Summary: HMOS AND REAL PEOPLE
Review: THIS REALLY HAPPENS. JOHN Q IS AN GUY WHO AGAINST ALL ODDS HAS TO GET A HEART FOR HIS SON WHO COOLAPSES AT A LITTLE LEAGUE GAME. HIS SON ENDS UP HAVING A HEART THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF A NORMAL NINE YEAR OLDS HEART. HIS INSURANCE WONT COVER IT. HE HAS TO TAKE OVER THE HOSPITAL AND HIS SON EVENTUALLY GETS ON THE DONOR LIST.
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