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JOHN Q. Movie Summary and Reflection REED
Christian Discipleship in the Modern World (D REED 002)
De La Salle University – Dasmariñas
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JOHN Q. – SUMMARY & ACTIVITY
Summary The film starts with a young woman getting into a road accident due to reckless driving. She collides into a truck and unfortunately does not survive. Meanwhile, in Chicago, titular character John Quincy Archibald and his wife, Denise, are faced with financial troubles when their son, Michael, collapses at his football game all of a sudden and is told to require a heart transplant. John, being a factory worker in the middle of a recession, finds it hard to afford said procedure as they are informed by cardiologist Dr. Raymond Turner and administrator Rebecca Payne that it costs $250,000 and the hospital requires a 30% ($75,000) down payment for such. Unfortunately, John also finds out that due to changes brought on by his job to their insurance carrier, his health insurance, then, cannot cover the medical procedure.
Unable to find financial aid anywhere else, the couple is desperate to raise money for their son’s much needed surgery. John, egged on by Denise’s plea to do something, then resort to holding Dr. Turner, several ER patients, and the medical staff, hostage - but nevertheless, allow a gunshot victim to be treated. As the police arrive, Lt. Frank Grimes negotiates with John, who identifies himself as “John Q.”. John demands for Payne to put Michael on the organ recipient list, thus enabling him to receive a heart transplant.
Afterwards, a dispute between Lt. Grimes and his superior Chief Gus Monroe occurred. As for the hostages, they start to understand John’s motive and ultimately sympathize with him, reflecting on the deficiencies of the American healthcare system. John eventually agrees to free some hostages, including expectant couple Steve and Miriam Smith, as well as immigrant mother Rosa Gonzales - who all express support for him to the news crews stationed outside of the hospital. Lt. Grimes and Payne then seek to inform Denise of her husband’s actions, with Payne ultimately deciding to put Michael on the recipient list and perform the operation free of charge.
Chief Monroe decides to override Lt. Grimes’ command and thus allows a SWAT sniper to enter the ER via air shaft. John is lured into the line of fire with a phone call from his wife; he also happens to speak to Michael as his son’s condition worsens, all the while, a news crew manages to hack the police surveillance feed and ultimately broadcast John’s conversation with his family for the whole crowd to witness. As John ends the call, he also sees the hacked news footage - things escalate even more as the sniper shoots at John at that very moment, hitting John in the shoulder. Thinking that he is being double crossed, John manages to overpower the sniper and uses him as a human shield as he
steps outside and repeats his demand to a supportive crowd. When the night comes, Michael is finally brought to the ER in exchange for the sniper’s release, although Denise is still forced to stay outside with the police.
Sadly, it seems that they are unable to find a suitable heart donor on such short notice, and so John resolves to commit suicide and give his heart to his son instead. He insists that Dr. Turner perform the operation. Julie Byrd, an earlier released hostage, and security guard Max Conlin become witnesses to what seems to be John’s last will and testament. Just in the nick of time, however, Denise informs them that they have found a matching donor for Michael - who is then revealed to be the recently deceased motorist from the beginning of the film. Once the heart arrives, John releases the remaining patients, one of which is Lester Matthews, who then disguises himself as John and proceeds to surrender to the police outside. John, in the meantime, poses as one of the surgeons and accompanies his son into the operating room. Lt. Grimes notices the switch between John and Lester, and yet remains sympathetic as he decides to take John into custody after Michael’s operation so as to allow both parents to monitor the procedure being conducted on their son.
Three months later, a nationwide debate about the American healthcare system had sparked because of John’s previous actions. All the hostages testify on John’s behalf at the court trial, and John is acquitted of attempted murder and armed criminal action but is still convicted of kidnapping and false imprisonment. Nevertheless, his lawyer assures him that he will most likely serve no more than two years in jail. As John is being escorted out of the courthouse and is en route to jail where he will await his prison sentence, his now-healthy son, Michael, thanks him.
Reflection ● Connection to Unit I: Human Person There is a relation that can be found between the content of the movie and the values taught to us by Unit 1 is that there are different philosophies on the human person and how one should act in accordance/disagreement with them. In the movie, John and his family are Christians and would attend church weekly. Though he is portrayed to be not that religious, he was still able to show that he was living his life with love, service, and sacrifices - which is still a testament to him living a Christian life. He was merely forced into committing morally grey actions due to them being backed into a corner with nowhere else to turn to by the very system that was supposedly implemented to help them - but again, that does not excuse his actions and he still had to pay his dues at the end of the movie by serving some time in prison. In terms of loving service, he does everything to support his family. He is the type to keep his promise especially if it involves his
the matter of John and Denise not having that much funds, with John being the only one with a regular job that still does not pay much as they need it to. As for the intention, though what he did was clearly against the law, the intention for it was good because he did it for his son (to live). Though, again, going by one of the principles of intention, " An act which is bad in itself and is done with a good end does not become good " , even if the intent came from a good place - if the means itself is bad, the action, all in all, is still bad. In conclusion, sometimes we do things that we know are wrong—not because we want to do them, but because the society or certain circumstances pushes us to resort to doing them.
● Connection to Myself If I were to say which character in the film I can connect to the most, it would be the mother. I would definitely do whatever it takes to save my child - though, committing a crime would most likely not be my last resort. Instead, it would probably have to be constantly praying to God and asking for His help. If all else fails, then that is the time for me to surrender everything to Him.
JOHN Q. Movie Summary and Reflection REED
Course: Christian Discipleship in the Modern World (D REED 002)
University: De La Salle University – Dasmariñas
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