This is topic John Q in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Jim Casterioto (Member # 1155) on 02-20-2002, 07:30 AM:
I saw this movie last night, in an auditorium with about 15 other people, and by the time it was over everyone, including myself was asleep. John Q was one of the worst films of 2002. It had a poor script, poor acting, and was very predictable. Denzel Washington was unable to save John Q, like he has done in the past with other movies.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-21-2002, 05:56 PM:
02/21/02, Cinemark 17, Springfield OR, 1:10PM, #4, flat, DTS. About 40 people in attendance. Focus seemed soft, otherwise all OK.This is a "B" TV-movie-of-the-week with an "A" performance by Denzel Washington. Cliches abound: stereotypical cookie-cutter characters, evil hospital administrators and insurance companies, stupid police (except Robert Duvall), vain self-promoting TV news reporter. Some of the dialog is laughable (and the laughs come in the wrong places). Denzel W. was very good though, as he usually is. Not great, but watchable only because of DW.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-24-2002, 05:16 PM:
Nobody has noticed the strangeness in the "Celebrities for National Health Care" segment near the end.Larry King? He can afford open heart surgery -- he demands $50,000 for every speaking engagement.
Ted Demme? He had a fatal heart attack January 13 -- 33 days before John Q. opened in the US. Turned out Demme had cocaine in his system and hardened arteries when he dropped dead on the basketball court.
That said, John Q. sends a mixed message. On one hand the health care industry really needs to provide lifesaving procedures to poor people. On the other hand, if you try to do something desperate for your family the government will use everything short of nuclear weapons to cut you down.
The fact that the image was soft and I could hear platter squeak didn't do anything for this two-faced piece of 
In real life John Q. would have killed off by that SWAT team in Chicago the way four white NYPD thugs pumped 41 bullets into an unarmed black man in the Bronx.
Posted by Tom Wienholt (Member # 1510) on 03-21-2003, 04:30 PM:
John Q was horrible. I am tired of film makers attempting to get there political views across. Basically, we are supposed to feel sorry for those who can't afford health insurance. And on top of that it was made into a racial issue. I am tired of wasting my money on stupid movies like this. What is wrong with the people that made this movie? IT WAS PATHETIC.