John Q is just an ordinary man trying to do the best by his family and though money is tight they are happy; But when John's young son becomes seriously ill, his whole world begins to fall apart. The young boy is in desperate need of a heart transplant, an operation that his father cannot afford and that his medical insurance refuses to cover. Left with no options John Q does the only thing that is within his power, he takes the hospital hostage. John Q is a powerful Hollywood drama; the tension and the anguish are well performed though the donkey/carrot emotionally charged script teeters dangerously close shmaltz on occasion.