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    John Q

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    N8hom
    John Q is a film about John Archibald who takes hostages at a hospital to force them to perform a heart transplant on his son Michael. John's insurance will not cover the expensive transplant Michael needs to survive. After fundraising efforts and selling their possessions fail to pay for the procedure, John takes the desperate action of hostage taking. During a long standoff, John considers killing himself to donate his heart. However, a donor heart is found in time. The film examines the flaws in the U.S. healthcare system and the lengths a parent will go to save their child.

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    John Q

    Uploaded by

    N8hom
    66 views2 pages
    John Q is a film about John Archibald who takes hostages at a hospital to force them to perform a heart transplant on his son Michael. John's insurance will not cover the expensive transplant Michael needs to survive. After fundraising efforts and selling their possessions fail to pay for the procedure, John takes the desperate action of hostage taking. During a long standoff, John considers killing himself to donate his heart. However, a donor heart is found in time. The film examines the flaws in the U.S. healthcare system and the lengths a parent will go to save their child.

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    John Q is a film about John Archibald who takes hostages at a hospital to force them to perform a heart transplant on his son Michael. John's insurance will not cover the expensive transplant Michael needs to survive. After fundraising efforts and selling their possessions fail to pay for the procedure, John takes the desperate action of hostage taking. During a long standoff, John considers killing himself to donate his heart. However, a donor heart is found in time. The film examines the flaws in the U.S. healthcare system and the lengths a parent will go to save their child.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    66 views2 pages

    John Q

    Uploaded by

    N8hom
    John Q is a film about John Archibald who takes hostages at a hospital to force them to perform a heart transplant on his son Michael. John's insurance will not cover the expensive transplant Michael needs to survive. After fundraising efforts and selling their possessions fail to pay for the procedure, John takes the desperate action of hostage taking. During a long standoff, John considers killing himself to donate his heart. However, a donor heart is found in time. The film examines the flaws in the U.S. healthcare system and the lengths a parent will go to save their child.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    John Q

    John Q is a movie written by James Kearn and directed by Nick Cassavetes which tells a story
    about a man called John Q. Archibald and the drastic measures that he takes in order to get a
    heart transplant for his son, Michael.

    Characters
    The major characters include the members of the Archibald family: John Quincy Archibald,
    Denisse Archibald and Michael ‘Mike’ Archibald; the cardiac surgeon, Dr. Turner; and the police
    officer, Lieutenant Grimes. Characters like the Hope Memorial Hospital staff members, patients
    and others are among the minor characters.

    Setting
    The main setting is the Hope Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Other settings like the baseball
    field and area outside the hospital are also included.

    Plot
    At the beginning, the Archibald was a happy family even though they were having financial
    difficulties. One day Mike collapses in the middle of the field during a baseball game. He was
    rushed to the hospital. Mike’s father and mother, John Quincy Archibald and Denisse Archibald,
    were told that Mike needed a heart transplant in order to live. Unfortunately, their insurance
    could not cover the medical expenses required for the transplant. The hospital required them
    to pay $75,000 in advance just so that Mike would be put on the recipients list. This was only
    30% of the $250,000 total payment required for the transplant. So, they try to get the money
    from friends and neighbors and even sell the materials in their house. However, after a few
    days, the hospital decides to release Mike because the payment was not done. This situation,
    together with the pressure from his wife wanting him to do something, forces John to act
    irrationally and take hostages in the hospital in order to get Mike on the list.

    The hostage situation continues and after getting Mike on the list, John demands that Mike be
    brought to him. As the time went on, John started to think of taking his own life so that he can
    give his heart to his son. So, he wrote a suicide note, got it signed by two willing people and
    pulled the trigger of his gun. However, the gun’s safety was on and so he turned the gun’s
    safety off and just as he was about to pull the trigger, his wife banged on the hospital door
    shouting that they had found a match. Finally, Mike got the transplant and John was put to trial.
    He was found not guilty on the charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action but he
    was found guilty on the kidnapping charges.
    Theme
    This movie showed that the way the health care policies of America are designed in account
    of the benefits of the health care providers only and without considerations for the people. The
    speech of John Q where he said, “I will not bury my son. My son will bury me,” shows the very
    strong bond that exists between father and son and that this strong love might force a person
    to do anything necessary for the well-being of his/her loved ones.

    Written by: - Biruk Tesfaye

    12C

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