John Q

John Q (2002)

Timing: 1:56 (116 min)

7.1/10
2585

7.745/10
36875

7.1/10
153000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 31

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-02-15

Country

United States

Production

Evolution Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Burg/Koules Productions

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Crime

Budget

$36 000 000

Revenue

$102 244 770

Website

Director

Nick Cassavetes

Actors

Denzel Washington, James Woods, Kimberly Elise, Robert Duvall, Shawn Hatosy, Eddie Griffin, Kevin Connolly, Ethan Suplee, Ray Liotta, Anne Heche
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

James Kearns

Producer

Mark Burg, Oren Koules, Michael De Luca, Avram Butch Kaplan, Richard Saperstein

Operator

Rogier Stoffers

Composer

Aaron Zigman

Artist

Jae Pak, Nicholas Gazda, Michele Perkovich

Audition

Matthew Barry, Nancy Green-Keyes, Robin D. Cook

Editing

Dede Allen, Lori Greenberg, Emily Glatter
All team (258)

• The inscription "For Sasha" appears before the end credits. This is a dedication to the director's daughter, Sasha Cassavetes.
• The scene where Denise calls John from the hospital had to be reshot because she was wearing the wrong dress.
• The scene where George W. Bush talks about healthcare while John and Denise watch television was also shot with Al Gore, because the election took place right between the end of filming and the film's release.
• The film was originally intended to be titled "Citizen Kane" (1941) before being named "John Q".
• The film was shot in a number of provincial government buildings in Toronto. There was one instance where the film crew blocked the entrance to a functioning emergency room of a real hospital.
• This film was the last in which Ted Demme appeared. He passed away on January 13, 2002.
• Despite the hospital scene where the eccentric couple falls apart looking truly gripping, all the actors actually laughed a lot during its filming.
• The film's director, Nick Cassavetes, appeared in a cameo role as a reporter on the courthouse steps.
• Between takes, Denzel Washington managed to film a scene for "Training Day".
• The amount and placement of dirt on Mike's face differs in the scene following his arrest.
• When Mitch and Max are talking, and Mitch picks up the scalpel, he puts it in his left pocket. Later, when he stabs John with it, he pulls it out of his right pocket.
• When Mike and John are eating breakfast at the beginning of the film, Mike's toast changes sides on the plate.
• After John is attacked by Mitch with a scalpel, he handcuffs him to a radiator on the wall. Later, we see that Mitch is handcuffed to a security guard.
• The bullet holes, as well as bloodstains on John Q's shirt, change position in the scene when he releases the pregnant woman and the Latina mother.
• When Dr. Turner walks through the doors into the glass-enclosed hallway where John takes him hostage, the legs of a crew member can be seen behind the door against a white background.
• The film is set in the US, but if you look at the scene where John drives away at the end, a Toronto Transit Commission Wheel Trans bus can be seen in the intersection ahead, traveling from left to right. This is a wheelchair-accessible bus used in Toronto, Canada.
• The son speaks to John Q during intubation. It is impossible to speak during intubation.
• When John attempts to kill himself, he pulls the trigger, and the hammer falls, but the gun doesn't fire because, as he says, it's on safety. When a Beretta is on safety, the hammer cannot be cocked and the firing mechanism is disengaged, thus the hammer wouldn't be able to fall and pulling the trigger would have no effect.
• In the very first scene, a "beautiful woman" sticks her head out of the car window, and her hair doesn't move, as if the car is stationary.
• When the donor heart is being prepared for surgery, the dead woman's mouth twitches into a smile for a moment.
• The inscription “For Sasha” appears before the end credits. This is a dedication to the director’s daughter, Sasha Cassavetes.
• The film “Citizen Kane” (1941) was originally intended to be titled “John Q.”
• During breaks in filming, Denzel Washington managed to film “Training Day.”
• In the very first scene, the “beautiful woman” sticks her head out of the car window, and her hair doesn't move, as if the car is stationary.