Deep within the dark recesses of every man lurks a beast and deep within the dark recesses of every beast lurks a man, hence humanity exists on a fulcrum of emotions, balancing between the man and beast.

Push a man to the brink, and one will court disaster. History is testimony to this, throughout its course, etched, are the many acts of violence committed in a spur of rage and desperation.

And push was exactly what the system did to Denzel Washingtons character in the emotion-charged offering, John Q .

As a factory worker, John is hardly able to make ends meet, and things take a turn for the worse when his nine-year-old son, Mike, is diagnosed as suffering from a deadly heart disease.

A famed heart surgeon relays the bad news, adding that the boy is running out of time and their only hope  a heart transplant.

This was not only risky but excruciatingly expensive as well.

Taking these, especially the latter, into consideration, the icy hospital administrator tells John and his wife that it would be best for them to accept fate, take the boy home and watch him die.

However, John opts for the transplant. But little does he know that this was the beginning of a roller-coaster ride through the bilge of capitalism.

First, he is told that his insurance would not cover a surgery of this magnitude, US$250,000, and second, he must fork out a down payment of US$75,000 to have his sons name placed on the donors list.

A check later reveals that Johns insurance policy had changed, without his knowledge and despite paying every week, therefore making him ineligible for such a large claim.

While death continued to tighten its grip on his son, a frantic John is sent from one queue to another in his quest for financial aid. He grows familiar with the words, Were sorry, theres nothing we can do.

The desperate father is now forced to sell his furniture, television set, refrigerator and pick-up truck. Money is also raised through friends and the church but the total is far from the costly lifeline his son requires.

By this time the hospital, saying there is a limit to its generosity, decides to discharge the boy.

John Q is now a man pushed.

Moral dilemma

Minutes later, he is shown brandishing a gun and holding several people, including the surgeon, hostage in the hospitals emergency room.

I want my sons name on the donors list or people will die, bellows the father on the telephone to a police negotiator.

And America is faced with a moral dilemma: John Q, vigilante or heroic father?

To the police, or at least its chief, he is a common criminal; to the media, a hot story; and to his captives, A good man.

Now the media, in this movie, displays its immense power albeit in a rather unethical fashion in the form of a Casanova-like broadcast journalist.

The movie also reveals how skewed things are and how doctors, despite taking the Hippocratic Oath, are hypocritical in their practice.

As far as Denzels performance is concerned, there is only one word to describe it  immaculate. Who knows, it may even land him a second consecutive Oscar, or a nomination at the very least.

When the idea for this article was first expressed, certain quarters said the political overtones in John Q are worthy of an in-depth analysis and debate.

Heeding this advice and after spending several mind-wrecking hours to deconstruct the political elements in the movie, there is only one conclusion to be drawn: The system sucks!

On a more serious note, the movie is a grim reminder of how bureaucratically unsympathetic the system can be towards the have-nots.

It also highlights the grave abuses certain industries, in this case insurance companies, mete on the hapless by exploiting the loopholes and inadequacies of the law.

To them it is about business and profits, to people like John Q it is about life and death.

There is one quote from this movie which sums it all, its message, more profound than any analysis that could be done on the issue.

What we hold sacred in this country is not values but value, says Johns close friend when asked to comment on the situation.

Though expressed in an American context, the quote actually describes the nature of the world today, where the right to live and love is determined by the almighty dollar, ringgit, peso, dinar and whatnot.

RK Anand is a malaysiakini journalist.