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JOHN
Q. ENCOUNTERS SICKNESS IN THE HEALTH INDUSTRY
 John
Q. is an exposé about the 40 million Americans
who have no health insurance and millions more who belong
to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that provide phony
health insurance. The hero, John Quincy Archibald (played
by Denzel Washington), is a family man, a churchgoer, and
a well qualified skilled laborer. One day his son Mikey (played
by Daniel E. Smith) falls to the ground during a Little League
game. After taking him to the emergency room of Hope Hospital
in Chicago, he and his spouse Denise (played by Kimberly Elise)
learn from Dr. Turner (played by James Woods) that their son
will die unless he has a heart transplant. Despite yearly
checkups, in which his heart was not part of the examination
so that the HMO could cut costs and rebate physicians for
doing so, he is now on the verge of death. But neither John
Q. nor his spouse have insurance coverage for a $75,000 down
payment for a heart transplant or for the $250,000 full cost,
as required by hospital administrator Rebecca Payne (played
by Anne Heche). Despite an insurance appeal, an application
for Medicaid, and other options, neither the government nor
the insurance company will help; a crusading television reporter
also turns him down. One day, after Denise informs John Q.
that the hospital is about to discharge Mikey as a patient,
John Q. arrives with a gun to take over management of the
emergency room until his son can receive a needed transplant;
several hospital personnel, patients waiting for emergency
care, and Dr. Turner are hostages. Enter the Chicago police,
led by Frank Grimes (played by Robert Duvall), who has spent
thirty-five years negotiating with those who hold hostages,
a gaggle of news reporters, and a crowd of wellwishers.
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Although
Grimes tries to calm John Q. down, the heightened media publicity
prompts police chief Monroe (played by Ray Liotta) to countermand
Grimes by sending a police sniper to kill John Q., an effort
that fails. Nevertheless, with tears down her cheeks, Payne
decides to authorize a heart transplant, to be fully paid
by the hospital, provided that a donor can be found soon.
Accordingly, John Q. decides to kill himself so that his own
heart can be used. Meanwhile, a driver killed in a crash with
a truck has a heart that is suitable for Mikey's transplant.
The drama then consists of which heart will be transplanted,
as John Q. does not know about the incoming heart, but after
the successful operation, John Q. is put on trial, exonerated
of attempted murder (his gun had no bullets) but found guilty
of taking hostages. John Q. begins with platitudes by President
George W. Bush proved false as the film progresses and ends
with a montage of statements about the failure of the American
health care system but does not depict the real villains in
the insurance industry. Much of the film, including the montage,
has an annoying music score, perhaps intended to give audiences
a headache. Filmviewers are encouraged by Payne to write members
of Congress and chided by one talk-show commentator for failing
to do so. The screenwriter, James Kearns, was inspired to
write the story after reading a new item in 1994 in which
a heart transplant recipient admitted that he would be dead
if he were not rich. As a film demonstrating, however crudely,
how the politics of the health insurance industry impacts
ordinary Americans, the Political Film Society has nominated
John Q., directed by Nick Cassavetes, as best
film exposé of 2002 and best film on the need for greater
democracy and human rights. MH
OTHER
FILMS TO SEE
Among the most recently released films are American
Adobo, which focuses on problems among Filipino
Americans, Hart's War
deals with racism in a German POW camp, and Little
Otik satirizes the oral personality.
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