This is a "B" TV-movie-of-the-week with an "A" performance by Denzel Washington. Cliches abound: stereotypical cookie-cutter characters, evil hospital administrators and insurance companies, stupid police (except Robert Duvall), vain self-promoting TV news reporter. Some of the dialog is laughable (and the laughs come in the wrong places). Denzel W. was very good though, as he usually is. Not great, but watchable only because of DW.

Larry King? He can afford open heart surgery -- he demands $50,000 for every speaking engagement.

Ted Demme? He had a fatal heart attack January 13 -- 33 days before John Q. opened in the US. Turned out Demme had cocaine in his system and hardened arteries when he dropped dead on the basketball court.

That said, John Q. sends a mixed message. On one hand the health care industry really needs to provide lifesaving procedures to poor people. On the other hand, if you try to do something desperate for your family the government will use everything short of nuclear weapons to cut you down.

The fact that the image was soft and I could hear platter squeak didn't do anything for this two-faced piece of

In real life John Q. would have killed off by that SWAT team in Chicago the way four white NYPD thugs pumped 41 bullets into an unarmed black man in the Bronx.

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