Review: Machine Gun Preacher

Nov 08, 2011

Written by: Dee Pilgrim

Can Hell’s Angels go to heaven? They can if they’re Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), one-time junkie criminal who finds God, turns his life around and dedicates himself to saving orphans in war-torn Sudan.

Childers is a real person and this fictionalised version of his life certainly shows him warts and all, but also adds a touch of glamour that most definitely would not have been there in reality.

Gerard Butler in Machine Gun Preacher

The film opens with Childers being released from a stint in jail to discover his wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) has given up her job as a stripper and embraced Jesus at the local church. She pleads with her husband to turn his life around and after he and his best mate and fellow junkie Donnie (Michael Shannon) have a close shave with death that’s exactly what he does, building a new and better life for his family.

But on a volunteering trip to Sudan, Childers finally finds his true calling; he will become the Machine Gun Preacher, using the might of the Lord (and a pump action shotgun) to save children from rape, mutilation and death at the hands of the savage Lord’s Resistance Army.

There’s plenty of gritty footage of violence and destruction and Butler does well as the brimstone and treacle messenger of the Lord, but the evangelical flavour of some scenes may be off-putting to those of a less religious nature. Also, of the children he saves we only learn the back story of one, the initially silent and scarred William (the excellent Junior Magale), and the main problem with the film is we don’t see enough of him or indeed any of the other children or get to know them as real people.

This is a very worthy film that makes absolutely no bones about the message it wishes to convey; we should all do more to help these children. However, the message would have been stronger had we got to know the children better. Without the children there would be no story, but director Marc Forster makes certain the film is all about Sam Childers.

Intriguingly, as the credits roles we see actual footage of Childers himself and one wonders if a straight documentary of his work in Africa would have made a better, less proselytising advert for his cause.

Author: Dee Pilgrim

Dee always knew she wanted to make her living from writing and so trained as a journalist before working for a variety of music and women’s titles including Sounds, Company, Cosmopolitan, Ms London, New Woman, and Girl About Town. After going freelance she concentrated on celebrity interviews and film, theatre, music and restaurant reviews. Her love of film goes back to her very first cinema experience at the age of five when her mother took her to see Bambi. She cried. At one time she was the Film Editor for NOW magazine and also the secretary for the film section of the Critics’ Circle and the celebrity coordinator for its annual film awards’ event. She has written a number of books for teenagers through Trotman Publishing, including five Real Life Guides to vocational careers (including Carpentry, Plumbing and Catering), and also three books on Real Life Issues (Money, Bereavement and Self Harm). Her favourite film is still Bladerunner.

Responses to Review: Machine Gun Preacher

Karon Bihari November 9th, 2011
I COMES DOWN TO HOW MUCH CAN ONE FILM SQUEEZE IN IT BEFORE THE CRITICS SAY “THAT WAS TOOOOO MUCH” … OR “THAT WASN’T ENOUGH” …
IF YOU DID NOT GET ENOUGH OF THE CHILDREN OF THE SUDAN IN THIS FILM I SUGGEST YOU OFFER YOUR SELF & YOUR TIME TO HELP THEM & GET TO KNOW THEM BETTER IN LIFE.
WHEN I SAW THAT PRECIOUS LITTLE BOY GRASP HIS HEART IN THE DARK WHEN SAM & HIS MEN WERE OUT IN THE WAR ZONE TO BRING MORE CHLDREN BACK TO THE CAMP MY OWN HEART SKIPPED A BEAT AS THAT ONE SINGLE FRAME SPOKE VOLUMES TO ME OF THE FEAR, SUFFERING & PAIN THESE DARLING CHILDREN GO THRU DAILY!
THE STORY OF WILLIAM & HIS MISSING BROTHER IS HEARTWRENCHING & THE CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE NEW SWINGS & SEA SAWS IS HEARTWARMING …
OF COURSE IT WOULD BE NICE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE KID’S … BUT YOU CANNOT FAULT A FILM WITH SUCH AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE DUE TO YOUR OWN PICKY TASTE!
THIS BRILLIANT FILM DESERVES TO BE SEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD!
Ben November 9th, 2011
There’s no need to shout.