Denzel Washington: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. John Quincy Archibald - John Q

Some of Denzel's best films have erred on the side of didactic, with the political stance of Malcolm X and Philadelphia pretty apparent to anybody with half a brain. Luckily those messages are carried within some powerful plots and performances, so it never feels like you're being lectured, and you can go ahead and enjoy the film itself rather than just being bored to tears. John Q is not like those films. In fact John Q may very well be the antithesis of those sorts of films, if the reviews at the time are to be believed; the general consensus was that it "pounds the audience over the head with its message". And that message involved, according to director Nick Cassavetes (who also did the Notebook, son of John €œI Have No Son€ Cassavetes), "a miracle and John's faith in God creating the miracle". So, yep. John Q stars Denzel as the eponymous anti-hero, who takes an entire hospital hostage until his son can get on the heart transplant list. He can't get on it because health insurance! Something which remains a genuine and horrifying issue in the United States. But not one which was affected one dot by this melodramatic, weirdly saccharine thriller which also counts Robert Duvall, James Woods and Anne Heche amongst its cast. It's just crap. It's a poorly made film, it's badly written, the ending is stupid, and it's probably the worst possible way everyone involved could've drawn attention to the issues it was trying to explore. Worst of all, Washington doesn't get to be anything more than a hysterical nutball, who is menacing in a pantomime way and nothing more.