John Q Movie Analysis

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The movie “John Q” narrates a story of the financially constrained character John Quincy Archibald who ensures that his nine year old son at the brink of death, secures a heart transplant by any means possible. Throughout the movie, there is a compelling display of the love shared by a family and this is seen in the great lengths John went to save his son, however unlawful. The main characters are John, Michael and Denise Archibald, Rebecca Payne, Doctor Turner and Lt. Grimes. In the movie there were two main negotiators who were negotiating on the main driving force of the movie’s story line; they were Lt. Grimes and John Q. John, from the onset of the movie, portrayed very choleric tendencies. He was a leader as shown by how he stood in to support his family and ensure that their needs were met. As the urgency to protect his son came into the picture, his fearless and ambitious traits became very dominant. He was courageous enough to keep hostages in a hospital knowing fully well the attention it would attract and he was bold enough to face death as he was ever ready to kill himself for his son. These even compelled one hostage to call him brave (Cassavetes, 2002). He also played very active roles in the movie, he was not passive about the entire negotiation; he made calls, moved around to ensure safety of hostages and ensured that his presence was felt by both the police and the hostages. In addition to the above, John was a go-getter and a calculated risk taker. Even though his act of abduction seemed impulsive, a scene before his act saw him thinking intently about what he was going to do and how exactly he was going to achieve it. He had one goal in mind which was to save his son and he pressed towards that with focus a... ... middle of paper ... ...gotiation table. This created the impression that John was dependent on the young man, which was not necessarily so. John did not have a best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) so he lost out of the negotiation. When the young man made his initial offer, John was not prepared for the negotiation and so did not have a reservation point and a target point; he sold the television with the intention to get any amount of money the other party was willing to give. This was because, as stated earlier he was constrained by time and the urgency of his son’s situation. Works Cited Cassavetes, N. (Director). (2002). John Q [Motion Picture]. Lewicki, R. J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D. M. (2007). Essentials of Negotiation. New York: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin. Thompson, L. L. (2007). The Truth About Negotiations. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

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