Boo, HMOs. Health insurance companies bad. Hooray for blue collar, middle-class America. That is the driving message behind director Nick Cassavetes’ new film, “John Q.”This over-saturated political and social commentary on our nation’s health care issues does well in providing audiences with fine performances and a compelling story.However, the story takes too many trips to the podium for lecture time, and that significantly lessens the emotional impact for the remainder of the film.Hard-working John Q. Archibald (Denzel Washington, “Training Day,” “Fallen”) struggles to take care of his family. John’s wife Denise (Kimberly Elise, “Set It Off”) works two jobs while he searches for a better-paying one.When their son collapses at a baseball game, John and Denise rush him to a hospital where they are told by Dr. Turner (the always great James Woods, “Vampires”) that their son will die unless he has a heart transplant.The hospital administrator, Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche, “Six Days, Seven Nights”) informs John that his insurance doesn’t cover this type of operation, and that he needs to make a down payment of $75,000 in cash.In a mad dash to raise the money, John and Denise are pushed to emotional limits while watching their son’s condition worsen.After failed attempts to obtain insurance coverage and with his wife screaming at him to do something, John locks down the emergency room of the hospital.He holds Dr. Turner, two other surgeons and several other patients hostage. The cops and the hostage negotiator (Robert Duvall, “The Apostle”) arrive to hear his demands.John’s only demand is that the hospital put his son’s name on the organ donor list immediately. Of course, the Chief of Police (Ray Liotta, “Hannibal”) soon gets himself involved and takes action to quickly get the situation resolved Despite the film’s shortcomings, Washington, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his performance in “Training Day,” shines yet again in another breath-taking performance.Duvall and Liotta turn in fine supporting roles, considering their small amount of screen time. And even though Heche was a bit on the annoying side, her mug was kept off-screen until needed.Actually, just about all the performances in “John Q” are balanced and well done. Only comedian Eddie Griffin’s ill-placed character is too painful to watch. Griffin (“Meteor Man”) shows up for supposed comic relief, but his less-then-amusing lines instead take away from the story and Washington’s performance.But the flaws inherent in Griffin’s character are overshadowed by the zealous turn the movie takes less than halfway in.”John Q” starts as a gritty drama about a father willing to do anything for his son, but it quickly regresses into a preachy piece that tries to pander to every audience possible.For the first half-hour of the film and during an important mid-film monologue, Washington really shines.But once he takes over the emergency room, the film becomes a mere political platform.All the characters sit in a circle, taking their turns yelling at Dr. Turner for HMOs and the troubles of America’s poor health care situation.It’s good that “John Q” has a message. But when a message is taken over the top and drawn out excessively to treat the audience like total fools, should we even care what happens on screen anymore?
John Q. Archibald, played by Denzel Washington, is a father who takes the law into his hands when his son needs a heart transplant in “John Q.” (New Line Cinema)
