In director Nick Cassavetes's gripping social drama, blue-collar worker John Q.
(Denzel Washington) finds that his meager insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant, so he holds a hospital emergency room hostage until doctors agree to perform the surgery.
Meanwhile, gung ho police chief Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta) and hostage negotiator Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall) try to diffuse the situation amid a media frenzy.