Thursday, August 08, 2019
John Q
- Commentary: I've seen this movie, probably when my mom was alive, we were companions and she loved movies even more than I do, so we'd watch everything and anything that popped up on the various movie channels proffered by our cable TV subscription. I have not watched it since it arrived as a part of the Denzel Washington four pack. I had to peruse the description in Wikipedia to determine whether I'd ever seen it.
You see, I'm not a fan of heavy-duty message movies. Oh, I know, every movie "has a message", even if the message is only in screwing with the viewer's visual perception. But, you know what I'm talking about.
Funny thing, I'm somewhat of a "justice warrior", at least I was in years past, so, you know, you'd think I'd be attracted to message movies. But, I'm not. I find heavy duty "justice warrior" movies frustrating and, often, thin and not well thought out. I like "justice warrior" documentaries, somewhat. I probably own a few of those. Ah, yes. I'm remembering at least one. But fiction presented as a "justice warrior" message movie ... hold on, let me see if I have any of those at all ...
Well. Aside from the fact that whenever we communicate we are intending to send a message and hope it will be received without too much corruption, and movies are nothing if not communication, and the premise of almost all fiction/fictionalized movies is "this is what happens when...", I found only two movies in my collection that I'd consider justice warrior/message movies. One, Gentlemen's Agreement, while heavy with message, is so well done from a film making standpoint that I don't mind the message. It came to me as one of a collection of Elia Kazan movies curated by Martin Scorsese. The other, Crash, is pretty heavy duty and fares the worse for it. In my brief write-up I mention that I bought the movie on the recommendation of MPNC, who was at the right age (early-to-mid teens) when movies like this would have been important to her because of their overwrought messaging. It is both a message movie and in the "justice warrior" vein. Not as blatant as this movie, John Q, but close.
I also own a movie, The Ten Commandments (that's right, Virginia), that so wanted to be a "message"/"justice warrior" movie that the producer/director, Cecil B. DeMille, filmed himself "on stage" prior to the movie to tell you that's what his film is. It succeeds as neither, but, whenever I watch it, and I do watch it at least once a year (it's so visually luxurious I can't help watching it regularly) I never skip the intro because I find it endearing and perfectly appropriate to the age during which it appeared in theaters. I did, by the way, see it in the theater when it was re-released in 1966 (I was too young, really, to see it in 1957). I was 14 or 15 (not sure when, during the year, it played) and the sole movie scene I carry, indelibly, in my memory, is a scene measuring mere seconds in Sodom/Gommorrah of a dancing woman's eyelids painted masterfully to look like open eyes ... and then she opens her eyes. Really made an impression on me. Every time I've watched the movie, since, I've rewound that scene at least once just to experience the shock, again. Masterful cinematics!
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Denzel Washington John Quincy Archibald Kimberly Elise Denise Archibald Daniel E. Smith Michael Archibald James Woods Dr. Raymond Turner Anne Heche Rebecca Payne Robert Duvall Lt. Frank Grimes Ray Liotta Chief Gus Monroe Eddie Griffin Lester Matthews
Release Date: 2002
Directed by Nick Cassavetes.
Labels: action2, denzel-washington, drama3, economic, james-woods, robert-duvall, suspense1, thriller1
