Venezuela:PG-13 / USA:PG-13 (certificate #38323) / Iceland:L / Malaysia:U / Argentina:16 / Australia:M / Brazil:12 / Germany:12 / Hong Kong:IIB / Netherlands:12 / Norway:15 / Peru:14 / Philippines:PG-13 / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:PG (censored version) / South Korea:12 / Spain:13 / Sweden:11 / Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) / UK:15
Aspect Ratio
:
1.85 : 1
Sound Mix
:
DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
Language
:
English / Spanish
Filming Locations
:
Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Color
:
Color (DeLuxe)
Genre
:
Crime / Drama / Thriller
MPAA
:
Rated PG-13 for violence, language and intense thematic elements.
Runtime
:
116 min
Awards
:
2 wins & 7 nominations
Overwiew :A down-on-his luck father, whose insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant, takes the hospital's emergency room hostage until the doctors agree to perform the operation. Character Name In Title / Desperately Ill Child / Act Of Desperation / Nose Bleed / Baseball
Starring :Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, Kimberly Elise, Anne Heche, James Woods, Eddie Griffin, Ray Liotta, Paul Johansson, Ethan Suplee, Shawn Hatosy, Heather Wahlquist, Obba Babatunde, Gabriela Oltean, Ron Annabelle, Daniel E. Smith, David Thornton, Barry G. King, Laura Elena Harring, Kevin Connolly, Larissa Laskin, Vanessa Branch, Stephanie Moore, James Finnerty, Michael Jaye, Yanna McIntosh, Linda Massad, Lester Mathews, Noam Jenkins, Allegra Fulton, Darrin Brown, Shera Danese, Kirsta Teague, Rick Sood, Troy Beyer, Troy Winbush, Martha Chaves, Scott Matthew Bloom, Dina Waters, Carlos Diaz, Joseph Duer, Simon Sinn, Jeff Douglas, Keram Malicki-Sanchez, Philip Williams, Nigel Shawn Williams, Frank Cassavetes, Colin Evans, Angelo Tsarouchas, Marcia Johnson, Vijay Mehta, Andrew Schaff, Malcolm Nefsky, Jay Leno, Gloria Allred, Larry King, Arianna Huffington, Ted Demme, Nasir Jones, Bill Maher, Claire Rankin, Phillip Craig, Gerry Quigley
Directors :
Nick Cassavetes
Producers :
Michael de Luca, Richard Saperstein, Avram Kaplan, Dale de la Torre, Howard Burkons, Mark Burg, Oren Koules, Hillary Sherman, Mathew Hart, Jim Kearns
Writers :
Frederick H. Stahly, Jim Kearns, James Kearn
Critic Reviews
Grade
USA Today - Claudia Puig : One can excuse the movie's missteps and melodramatic moments in the greater interest of the strong statement it makes about our health care system. more...
B-
San Francisco Chronicle - Mick LaSalle : More hokey than heartfelt. more...
C+
Salon.com - Stephanie Zacharek : Its manipulation is so clumsy and obvious -- and, ultimately, it goes so far astray from its original guiding principles -- that it leaves you feeling dangled and dazed. more...
F
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers : ...a subpar episode of ER. more...
D
New York Times - Elvis Mitchell : ...so ham-fisted that it sabotages its own worthwhile arguments. more...
D
New York Post - Jonathan Foreman : John Q is not a movie but a live-action agitprop cartoon so shameless and coarse, it's almost funny. more...
C
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas : ...unafraid to speak the plain truth... more...
A-
Hollywood Reporter - Michael Rechtshaffen : Imagine the worst episode of Chicago Hope never aired, and it still won't even begin to describe the agonizing ordeal that is John Q. more...
D
E! Online - Paging a script doctor, stat! This preachy, painfully obvious man-against-the-system saga ha : http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Movies/Reviews/0,1052,85321,00.html more...
CNN.com - Paul Tatara : Washington should leave this one off his resume and get on with his otherwise illustrious career. more...
D
Chicago Tribune - Mark Caro : The performances - particularly by Washington, Elise and Duvall - keep you paying attention, but you tire of the movie jerking you around. more...
C+
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert : ...the kind of movie Mad magazine prays for. It is so earnest, so overwrought and so wildly implausible that it begs to be parodied. more...
C-
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Eleanor Ringel Gillespie : This hospital hostage melodrama needs emergency surgery. more...
C
Arizona Daily Star - Phil Villareal : ...moronic... more...
Critic Reviews
