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John Q (2001)

tomatometer

23

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Reviews Counted: 129
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 99

Washington's performance rises above the material, but John Q pounds the audience over the head with its message.

12

Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 29

Washington's performance rises above the material, but John Q pounds the audience over the head with its message.

audience

83

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 150,196

My Rating

Movie Info

A national health care crisis in the United States yields this tense drama from screenwriter James Kearns and director Nick Cassavetes, who experienced a real-life dilemma with his daughter's congenital heart disease that mirrors the one in this film. Denzel Washington stars as John Q. Archibald, a factory worker facing financial hardship as a result of reduced hours in his workplace. When his young son, Michael (Daniel E. Smith), is stricken during a baseball game, John and his wife, Denise

PG-13, 1 hr. 58 min.

Drama

James Kearns

Jul 16, 2002

$71.0M

New Line Cinema

Cast

All Critics (142) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (100) | DVD (24)

A polemic in search of a plot.

November 6, 2002 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Manipulative sentimentality, contrived plot and phony climax.

March 13, 2002 Comment (1)
New York Observer
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A sappy, melodramatic Denzel Washington vehicle that ensnares you in the standard hostage-movie scenario and doesn't let go until the director runs the whole playbook.

March 4, 2002 Comment (1)
Arizona Republic
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It pulls out more stops than that old silent serial The Perils of Pauline. Unfortunately, it's a talkie.

February 24, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
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Cassavetes thinks he's making Dog Day Afternoon with a cause, but all he's done is to reduce everything he touches to a shrill, didactic cartoon.

February 21, 2002 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
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...a ridiculous script that gets just about everything wrong...

February 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment (1)
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Thought-provoking. Too intense for young teens.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Strands good actors in mushy, movie-of-the-week material. [Blu-ray]

May 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

The movie comes dangerously close to saying that the solution to a personal grievance is, well, terrorism, when you get right down to it.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comments (2)
eFilmCritic.com

With Hurricane, Training Day, now John Q, Denzel perfects the righteous rebel, a fine blend of hot rage and charismatic cool, declaring free health care for all.

July 15, 2007 Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | Comment
WBAI Web Radio

Social messages, simplistic action, and teary melodrama are manipulatively but unsuccessfully mixed in this picture, which tries to provide a "hard" look at an honest working-class man (Washington) who loses control while trying to save his child's life

December 18, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Instead of presenting the story and allowing us to draw our own conclusions, Cassavetes blatantly tells us what we should think.

January 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | Comment
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

Washington, Woods, and Duvall are so capable, they almost save this schlock-fest from itself.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | Comment
Film Quips Online

A coercive script by James Kearns, and some middling direction by Nick Cassavetes, can't rob the movie of an undeniable, headlong crowd-pleasing power as it tackles an issue that touches us all.

January 21, 2003 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | Comment
L.A. Weekly
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for John Q

Explosive idea for a film. Denzel Washington as usual puts on a great performance.

June 29, 2008
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

John Q. Archibald: My son is dying, and I'm broke. If I don't qualify for Medicare, WHO THE HELL DOES? "Give a father no choice and you leave him no option"How far would a father go for his son? Yeah. That's never been done before. And guess what. It's been done way better. John Q is an unoriginal, cliche, overly

August 2, 2011
blkbomb
Melvin White

Super Reviewer

    1. John Q. Archibald: I am not going to bury my son! My son is gonna bury me!
    – Submitted by Alex M (1 day ago)
    1. John Q. Archibald: I'm not gonna bury my son. He is gonna bury me.
    – Submitted by ???????? ? (57 days ago)
    1. Dr. Raymond Turner: Mr. Archibald, these people have nothing to do with this. You have got to let them go. They need treatment.
    2. John Q. Archibald: This is a hospital, isn't it? You're a doctor. Treat them.
    3. John Q. Archibald: [points to Lester] Start with him.
    4. Dr. Raymond Turner: [Stands frozen]
    5. John Q. Archibald: What's the matter, Doc? You want to see his insurance card first?
    6. John Q. Archibald: [stands on a table addressing the room] This hospital is under new management, ladies and gentlemen. From now on, free care for everyone.
    – Submitted by Harlem F (4 months ago)
    1. Mike Archibald: Bye, Dad.
    2. John Q. Archibald: Not goodbye. Remember? See you later.
    – Submitted by Harlem F (4 months ago)
    1. Desk Guard: You know something, man? You're alright.
    2. John Q. Archibald: Sure am. Only one thing can stop me now.
    3. Desk Guard: What's that.
    4. John Q. Archibald: Mitch here being B-positive.
    5. Mitch: No, sir. Type-O. Swear to God.
    – Submitted by Harlem F (4 months ago)

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