John Q (2002, VHS)

Whoever got the idea for this movie definitely has a beef with HMO's. They seemed more than eager to make that known to the world! I'm not exactly the world's genius on medical insurance; I'm just glad they were able to tell a good story at the same time, 'cause that's what movies are about. They can be either an escape, or a reminder. But that's not someone else's choice. Denzel Washington steps in to play the guy who's fighting to make ends meet, struggling to keep up with the bills, and of course trying to be an ideal father figure for his son (you know the routine). Yes, this is John Q....

Movie Review = Surg completely out of her element. Now with that bit of information on the table I will do my best to tell you how my eyes viewed John Q. I wish I could just sit and watch a movie for relaxation, but in most of them, I sit and watch and ponder the moves made and why. Or what I would do, how I would react in similar situations. So grab a box of Pom Poms, and on with the show. John Q. a man that struggles to make ends meet, in order to provide for his wife and son. A factory worker with decreased hours + a wife that keeps telling him to do something + a sick child all = Disaster.

Netflix accidentally sent me the wrong movie the other day. We had to mail it back, but figured what the heck - we'd watch it that night before the mailman arrived the next morning. That movie was John Q. I didn't have it on my rental queue, and I'm very happy that I received it in error. Denzel Washington portrays a typical middle-class blue-collar worker. I say typical because he reminds me a great deal of my husband's best friend who works at the Mrs. T's Pierogies plant to support his kids (he's now divorced). We watched him go through the divorce and losing his job that he'd had for more.

For a movie that gets right to the heart of our country s health care system s biggest problems, it is going to be hard to beat this one. If you are wondering what all the hullabaloo is about, because you, as yet, have not had to face an uninsured catastrophic illness, I urge you to watch this movie. And before you say with a nervous sideways glance, Aw...that couldn t happen HERE!...I assure you that on every level but the happy ending, it could. The issues will keep this movie from popular acclaim, because we have proven time and again that when it comes down to it, we don t want to hear...