“Machine Gun Preacher” is intriguing as it’s played, yet, if it weren’t a true biopic, it would be hard-pressed to accept as factual. The actual events follow Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), a rough-and-tumble, brawling biker and ex-con, with best bud, and cohort in crime Donnie (Michael Shannon, with sparse on-screen time). With a change of heart to redeem his wild ways and find himself, he turns to God and becomes a born again Christian. In cleansing himself of drugs and alcohol, the soul-searching Sam leaves his ex-stripper wife (Michelle Monaghan) and young daughter (Madeline Carroll) at home, and in the late nineties, travels to East Africa as a representative of the Church to help rehabilitate the sordid living conditions of a dictatorial, civil war-torn land. He becomes a Redeemer to orphaned, underprivileged Sudanese children. Accustomed to living as a tough guy, Sam fits into the mold of a freedom fighter to help clean up and abolish the existing tyranny as a mostly one-man army. He also founds an orphanage for the enslaved, lost children.
Director Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”) did well choosing his lead actor. The sturdy, physically-fit Gerard Butler (“300”) is perfect as the former lawbreaker who turns his life around to become a conscionable man-of-the-cloth. He’s at ease carrying a bible while toting a gun. The inspirational true story elevates his performance level from recent flighty rom-coms to the meaningful portrayal of a persevering minister. DVD note: check out 1961’s“The Hoodlum Priest.”
Image Source: Wrestling With Pop Culture
