JOHN Q

 

THREE STARS – THOUGHT-PROVOKING

 

       It is not difficult to criticize the obvious agendas of those who created “John Q.”  Presenting us with stereotypically greedy and merciless persons who operate our hospitals, corporations and insurance companies, the issues of how to provide medical care for the poor are skillfully avoided.  Instead, the simplistic answers of “sick=help” and “do something” presented here, do not even begin to address how that help is to be delivered or how we are to respond when nothing can be done.

       In a world of increasingly expensive procedures that can save the lives of only a few of the millions world-wide who are sick, the question of who gets that help raises many moral and spiritual questions.   Intuitively we know we cannot answer the question by saying only the rich are to be helped.  There must be other ways and other powers involved or the very procedure by which we seek to help will create an intolerably privileged few and a desperately powerless multitude. 

       Representing the desperate throngs is John Q. Archibald (Denzel Washington).  An employee of a downsizing steel mill, John Q. is experiencing the stress of the majority of people who live hand to mouth, have their vehicles repossessed and even in ultimate tragedy with the help of friends and church, can only come up with a tenth of the cost of an operation needed to save the life of his son.

       Collapsing during a little league game, Mike (Daniel E. Smith) needs a heart transplant.  But when the hospital discovers that John Q.’s plant has reduced his HMO coverage to save costs and it will not pay the $250,000 needed, the administrator refuses to even put Mike’s name on the donor list looking for a heart unless they can come up with 30% cash. 

       Turned down by all the agencies he trusted would be there in his time of need, John Q. is driven to take drastic measures when his wife, Denise (Kimberly Elise) tearfully demands that he “do something” when the hospital decides to send their son home to die.

       Having no other recourse, John Q. decides to use force.  He kidnaps the surgeon and commandeers the emergency room of Hope Hospital and demands that his son’s name be put on the donor list.  The foolishness of such a move is so obvious yet his demand is so selfless that his actions catch the heart of the masses as they identify with his offensive.

       A Christian and a loving husband and father, the intensity of this action carries with it many layers of struggle, not only within John Q himself, but also within the myriad levels of public life from medical, to media, to city.

       The danger of a desperate person who perceives their offensive as a moral imperative is a reality clearly portrayed by “John Q.”  It is a message that cannot be ignored.

      

      

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