Movie review--
Man justified for outrage on insurance
by Nick Nance, reporter

    The United States is the most industrialized nation in the world that does not have a national health care system.

   The reason for this is widely debated.

   The new movie John Q. is a look in the life of a father who faces the harsh reality of not having adequate health care for his son.

   John Q. (Denzel Washington) is a dedicated family man who has been working reduced hours at a local factory. His wife (Kimberly Elise) recently got a job at a grocery store to help with the bills.

   When the family car gets repossessed, it seems things cannot get any worse for their family.

   The same day, while playing in a baseball game, John’s son, Michael, collapses in the field. When the family members arrive at the hospital, they find out in a horrible way their son is very ill.

   John Q. then finds out that he doesn’t have the insurance that he thought he had to cover expenses of this magnitude.

   His employer switched health coverage to save money without notifying him.

   His son’s physician, Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods), and hospital administrator, Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), inform John they will not give his son the transplant he desperately needs to survive because the hospital cannot afford it.

   After going through everything he can to raise money, John makes a desperate appeal to his son’s physician. His attempts meet with negative results.

   John reaches the end of his rope when the hospital officials inform him they will be sending Michael home.

   John decides to do something to help his son.

   John takes the emergency room hostage. Instantly the story is broadcast across the city.

   Hostage negotiator Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall) tries to figure out why John has taken the emergency room hostage.

   When he begins to negotiate with John, Frank’s superior, Chief Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta), shows up and begins to manipulate the scene himself.

   Influenced by politics, the Chief sends an officer to try and end the hostage situation. What he succeeds in doing is putting the officer’s life in extreme danger.

   The negotiators and the hospital agree to get John’s son the transplant he needs. The race against time begins for them all. What happens next will leave the audience breathless.

   Washington leads a stars-studded cast that includes Duvall, Heche, Liotta, Woods and 10-year-old newcomer Daniel E. Smith.

   John Q. is an emotional tale of the struggles of middle-class Americans fighting for survival that everyone will enjoy.