After his son needs to undergo a heart transplant after a tragic accident, Denzel Washington's character of John Quincy Archibald (code-named John Q) tries everything he can to pull together the funds required. When this fails, John Q locks down the hospital emergency room with everyone inside until his son's name is put on the transplant list.

Most of the notes that I took at the beginning of John Q, I later crossed out throughout the movie. This was because the movie only get better and better as it progressed. The first ten to twenty minutes of the movie was not very exciting. However, this was intentional and introduced the main characters and cleared a lot of things up before the movie even started. But at a certain moment in the film, the pace changed rapidly and took the audience off guard. Once this speed was set, the movie did not slow down and held the audience on the edge of their seats for much of the film. Even in the slower first parts of the movie, the director still made the audience nervous.

This was a similar case to what happened with the music. At the start of John Q, there was a lack of music that felt out of place and I felt that the composer could have done a better job. However, once the exciting bits in the movie began, the music similarly became thrilling. The music was fun, electrifying, and pretty epic.

I mentioned earlier that the first part of John Q that came across as not very exciting seemed to be intentional as it introduced the characters and made way for the exciting second act of the movie. There were many other aspects in this movie that made the writing stand out to me. There were many little references and well thought out sequences that made the film feel complete.

Another stand-out feature of the film was the characters and the portrayal of these characters by the actors. There was such a wide range of character types in the film and they all contrasted well. Although there was one clear protagonist, all the actors treated their character as the protagonist which resulted in multiple well-developed characters. All the characters felt like they had their own story despite not being directly conveyed to the audience. If I had to pick the best performance in John Q, it would have to be Denzel Washington. The actor conveyed many difficult emotions and made the audience love and understand the character. Nonetheless, all actors and actresses in the film embraced their characters and portrayed them well.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about John Q was how it explored perspectives. The movie was told from the point of view of someone who could easily be described as a villain in a typical story. However, this 'villain' had clear reasons for doing what he did and this is something that could be incorporated in many movies. This is also something that should not only be explored in media, but also in the real world. Everyone's stories should be given thought and consideration and people will often have, good or bad, clear motives.

John Q is an outstanding and very emotional movie. It has some very realistic and contrasting characters that create an incredible film. Although the first half is not as exciting as the second, it is just as well thought out and allows time for the audience to get to know the main characters. A film with marvellous directing and acting but even more outstanding writing.

Director: Nick Cassavetes

Starring: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Kimberly Elise, Ray Liotta

Year released: 2002

My rating: 8.5/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 17/10/2021