John Q - John Q is a 2002 movie starring Denzel Washington as John Quincy Archibald, a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because insurance won't cover it. The title is a reference to the term John Q. Public, indicating that the struggles in the story could be experienced by any average American. A protest against the policies and hidden procedures of manyof today's insurance companies, John Q also stars Anne Heche, Ray Liotta, and Robert Duvall, among others.