Rating: 
Summary: Ok if you ignore the over the top characterizations
Review: The film takes a great premise coupled with terrific actors and spoils what could have been an excellent movie with trite, silly, oversimplified dialogue and blunders that shouldn't have been made on a project with this kind of budget.James Woods and Anne Heche are both capable of excellent acting but in this work they are both given roles and dialogue that could have been played by a first year acting student. They are forced to become cardboard antagonists that give unbelievable lines in totally unbelievable scenes. Later as the movie progresses they start to see the light and transform. The people they portray in the film just aren't real enough to hate or love. Washington is the man and his character is believable and therefore as a viewer I sympathized and believed in his cause. He was the saving grace of this flick. I think the dialogue was just a bit over the top with liberal platitudes about how unfair the world is and how the "rich" are out to get everyone else. It could have been toned down a bit and still have been effective. The scenes with Robert Duvall and Ray Liotta are more of an obstacle to the film than anything else. Again the characters that these capable actors are stuck playing is a shame, they are much better than they are allowed to be. The most annoying thing in the movie are the silly little political statements:
Guns are bad, bad guys get them at gun shows in five minutes.
We don't want our taxes raised so 50 million Americans don't have health coverage.
There's four hundred of us here for one job, probably already taken by some cousin. The employers are bad, the hospitals are bad, the doctors are greedy, the hmo's let little kids die because it's cheaper, and by the way, you can get a gun at a gun show in five minutes. As for technical errors:
The emergency rooms of large hospitals have more than four or five patients waiting to be seen, they also have a bigger staff than two or three people (none of which was a doctor).
The old "sneak through the air duct" trick belongs in Get Smart reruns and made for tv movies.
No well run hospital lets one child die (with hysterical mother screaming) right next to another terminally ill child. It may happen in a badly run, overcrowded hospital, but this hospital was on the "right side of the tracks", so it can't be both ways.
No police force, faced with a hostage situation and an armed gunman, allows everyone on the force to show up with guns drawn and at the same time allows hundreds of spectators to stand around and cheer as if they were watching a cops charity baseball game.
No paramedics (except for really bad ones) would just hand over a bleeding patient to an armed gunman, unless they were cowards or stupid they'd stay with the guy until released by an attending physician.
I' m no expert, but I'd bet that it wouldn't be a simple procedure to perform a heart transplant in an ER, I'd imagine that it is a little more complicated than just wheeling the bed in and cutting the patient open.
I suppose that the film makers were trying to make a point with this movie and getting all the details correct and believable were not all that important. I give the film a "C" because Denzel Washington is simply a superb actor and he is fun and entertaining to watch. A mild recommendation for a sloppy offering.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth It
Review: This a movie to rent not own. While Denzel gives a very good performance as usual, the movie follows a predictable hollywood pattern: The family bonding scene in the beginning (with bad acting from the son), tension in the middle, and a less that climatic climax. It you really want to see this movie, rent it instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Credible, entertaining, informative
Review: If you love drama, get this movie. If you enjoy quality entertainment, get this movie. If you have a Pollyanna view of our healthcare system or how police handle hostage negotiations, avoid it until you can extract your head from the sand! If you have no idea what parents will do to protect their children, what extreme action they might take to save them from harm, read a newspaper now and again. Better still, ask a parent who is confronted with a similar situation! I read various reviews pertaining to this film and am amazed how many people have no clue how police handle a hostage situation. Yes, there are lulls in the action, just as in real life. Police attempt negotiations, but also maintain high readiness, prepared to fire at any opportunity in order to end a standoff with minimal loss of life or injury to innocent civilians. Hostages frequently become fond of their captors, a reaction known to psychologists as the Helsinki Syndrome. While trying to understand why they have been taken hostage, it is reasonable, even logical, for hostages to demand an explanation from their captors. This movie is intelligent, entertaining, and entirely credible. What is more, Denzel gives an incredible performance as a father frustrated by a bureaucratic system that is inherently heartless to the plight of John Q and his dying son. It is an insight into the heartbreaking desperation that compells him to extreme action. The news is filled daily with reports of men with far less cause who are driven to extreme action by a sense of desperation. The scenario is entirely believable. More importantly, as the featurette "Fighting for Healthcare", included on this disc makes abundantly clear, millions of American citizens are either uninsured or underinsured. Worse, among those covered by insurance programs through their employment, policies can change at the whim of the employer. This can be done without notice to the employee, who is left believing they are fully covered for all medical contingencies. This movie is believable, credible and tense. It is less an action film than a psychological thriller. John Q harkens back to the tense confrontation found in Crimson Tide, which again pitted Denzel Washington against Gene Hackman.
This is a marvelous film. The features included are a stunning indictment of a healthcare system that fails a huge segment of our citizens. The movie is exciting, and highly entertaining. I strongly recommend this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Audience Pleaser
Review: I expected very little from this one and found myself happily surprised while watching this interesting mix of social commentary and audience-pandering drama (and I mean that in a good way) as an armed father John Q (Denzel Washington) takes over an emergency room when a hospital denies his son's placement on a transplant recipient list and is about to release him. The cards are stacked (think "Dog Day Afternoon"), the cliches abound (insensitive hospital administrators, numb hot-shot surgeons, blood-thirsty cops, egocentric media types), and there's a enough left-wing propaganda to choke a convention of conservatives (forced rants on gun availability and a cute sound bite from a former First Lady), but somehow I did not feel insulted by it all. Why? The answer is Denzel Washington, a living paradox, someone who barely registers any excitement yet maintains a high level of charisma. Only someone as trusted by an audience and even-keeled could have kept this movie afloat and balanced, and he does. Sure, I felt manipulated, but it worked, and I had a good time. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Denzel again shines!
Review: Denzel Washington, 2 time Oscar winner for Training Day and Glory, and one of the
world's most talented actors again performs at the level of which audiences have come to
expect from him. John Q, a desperate man, has to turn to desperate measures in order to
save the life of his son. The movie, in a minor way, touches on the politics of medicine in
America. As John begins his fight to fund the heart surgery need by his young son,
director Nick Cassavettes takes us step by step through the ugly reality of HMO's, the
'haves and the have nots' and what happens to people everyday that don't have 'proper
medical coverage.' I'm sure many of us like John Q. (Archibald), have not read the fine
print on their medical policies and assumed that they have adequate medical coverage,
only to find out when its needed, you have none. Something like extended warrantees on
a used car. The insurance covers everything except what you need it to cover! The film
ends without an obvious solution, but does briefly show politicians "talking" about the
need to reform our healthcare system. Co-staring with Denzel, is James Woods, Robert
Duvall, Ann Heche and Ray Liotta. Ann's performance as the all business hospital
administrator is worthy of an award while her other co-stars were out performed by the
films other supporting actors. This DVD is loaded with very good features. New
Line/Infinifilm again proves excellent value on the DVD. John Q. is rated PG-13 for some language and violence.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic movie!
Review: This movie has is all....Denzel Washington is fantastic!!!! As a parent, this movie goes right to my heart. The only problem I see with the movie is how frighteningly TRUE it is. Health care in America is so pathetic and what happens to John Q (Denzel Washington) and his family is probably right on target for some people. When John finds out his insurance company won't pay for a transplant that his son desperately needs and the hospital won't put his son's name on the donor list unless they come up with 30% of the money for the operation, he takes matters into his own hands. He takes the emergency room hostage and in it is the transplant doctor, Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods). It is sad that it ever came to that, but I thought doctors were here to help people? But as this movie shows, some are just out for the almighty buck. This is one of Denzel's best films. Also co-stars Robert Duvall, Anne Heche, Kimberly Elise, and Shawn Hatosy. A must have for your collection!!!!
Rating:
Summary: EXcellent
Review: After working in the health care field in varying capacities for over 20 years , to the critics out there of this movie I say It CAN happen and DOES happen every single day in every single city in every single state. The health care industry routinely turns away thousands daily for the exact reason the movie states. Excellent job by all, I especially enjoyed the subtle interaction between Ray Liotta & Robert Duvall.
Rating:
Summary: Tear jerker, but definitely a good movie
Review: This is a father's movie! If you truly love your son, you feel for what John Q. (Denzel Washington) faces when his son clasp at a little league game and gets the run-around from the hospital because his insurance will not cover the medical bill. Being a father of a two-year-old boy, this movie had me in tears, but it was well worth watching. This movie is definitely a must have!
Rating:
Summary: How far would you go to save your child's life?
Review: To begin with, this movie is very emotionally charged and poignant and sends a distinct message concerning the rapid decline of our health care system. It is a story of one individual driven to take extreme measures when all other courses of action have failed. Denzel Washington stars as John Q. Archibald who is a hard working family man trying his very best to keep his finances solvent and trying to make a better life for his family. It is discovered early on, while at his son's baseball game, that his son collapses and is diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition. The prognosis for his son is that he needs a heart transplant in a very short time. John Q discovers that his insurance policy does not cover the needed medical costs to have this operation take place and he is suddenly initiated into the unfair and cruel realities of our health system. Anne Heche, who plays the consummate hospital administrator, tells John Q his son needs to placed on a list for heart recipients and that a heart transplant comes with an enormous cost which he cannot possibly afford. Almost devoid of sympathy and acting in a manner akin to a corporate CEO or policy maker or politician, the administrator's true interest here is the profit margin and having the correct type of insurance coverage or nothing at all. John Q is basically told that there is nothing that can be done for him whatsoever. John Q pleads with the cardiologist (James Woods) to perform the operation and that he will raise the necessary funds and pay him any way that he can as soon as he can. The doctor basically tells him that he is out of options also and that his dying son will be discharged from the hospital very soon. John Q's distraught wife urges her husband to take some form of action immediately to save their son's life. Being forced into a corner with nowhere to turn, John Q decides to take control of the hospital (along with hostages) until an agreement can be made to help his son. Ray Liotta and Robert Duvall star as police officers trying to diffuse the situation with each one of them having differing and conflicting ideas on how to terminate the hostage crisis. As the movie proceeds, you are able to see the interactions that unfold between John Q, his hostages, his family, and the police. It is a moving and emotional time leading ever closer to his son losing his battle to live. By what might be attributed to a miracle, the hospital receives word that a properly matched heart has been located and is flown to the hospital to save the son of John Q. A successful operation is perfomed which saves the life of his son, ends the hospital crisis, and subjects John Q to the legal system for the acts he has committed. The actions of John Q, although criminal, were not borne out of machismo or malice or spite, but instead were acted out because of serious desperation and the deep love for his son and his desire for his son to have an equal chance to live a long, healthy, and prosperous life. The main characters in this movie, Denzel Washington, James Woods, Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, and Anne Heche, delivered excellent perfomances and made the movie very enjoyable. The plot does, at times, seem a little sensational or maybe a little too manufactured but it does not really deter from the true meaning of the movies message. This movie idealizes a loving father saving his son's life and having to fight an unjust health care system that should benefit all citizens but doesn't due to it's myriad problems and unfair practices. I highly recommend this movie to everyone and would venture to say that it is probably one of Denzel Washington's best performances to date. Very enjoyable movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Never Could Believe the Story
Review: Denzel was very good and the state of health care in the U.S. is atrocious as is the red tape and costs but, ignorance of the law or laws intitles you to nothing! If everyone who needed emergency surgery started taking hostages, hospitals would be guarded like Fort Knox. Then stick in Anne Heche as a totally unbelievable, "underdressed", hospital administrater, Duval and Liotta as two guys they grabbed at the water cooler and said get in the movie and play cops and a gaggle of Chicago cops all pointing their loaded guns at an emergency room full of sick, innocent people, not to leave out the "heart transplant" surgery that has to be done by a team of several physicians and technicians. You'll like how they toss the heart right in the hole, slam dunk. Then after all this Denzel is given a trial scripted by Frank Capra. The car crash scene was really cool. Well meaning movie, terrible waste of talent.
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