When Blaine and I were scrolling through Netflix on the weekend, trying to find something to watch, Blaine just about jumped off the couch in excitement when he saw that ‘John Q’ was recently added. I was a little clueless as to why Blaine was so thrilled to see this title, and when I informed him that I had never heard of nor seen this film, I don’t think I have ever seen such profound disappointment in my husband’s eyes.
Shockingly, we watched it.
Now that I have seen ‘John Q’, I can understand why Blaine was so enthusiastic about watching it. It was released back in 2002, and it stars Denzel Washington as John Archibald, Kimberly Elise as Denise Archibald, his wife, and Daniel Smith as Mike Archibald, their son. The Archibald’s find themselves in a tight financial situation despite trying their best to make ends meet, and when they learn their son, Mike, is in need of a heart transplant, and soon, they find themselves desperate to find a way to come up with the money to cover the cost of the surgery.
Despite John’s best efforts, he is unable to secure his son’s name on the transplant list as he is short in providing the required down payment, and thus he is ultimately informed that the hospital Mike is a patient in will not perform the surgery and save his life. Unable to simply cope with knowing he is expected to sit back and watch his son die, John decides to hold a doctor at gunpoint and barricade the hospital until his son’s name is put on the transplant list.
This is an excellent movie, and while it is not based on a true story entirely, it is based on a similar incident that occurred in Toronto in 1999. This movie is emotionally packed, moving and intense, and it portrays the lengths family will go to for one another. I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already.
ontheedgeofeverything 
