Review of Machine Gun Preacher (2011) by Joss H — 10 Jul 2013

Upon his release from prison, Sam Childers(Gerard Butler) wastes no time in getting intimately reacquainted with his wife Lynn(Michelle Monaghan). That does not mean he is not incensed when she informs him that she quit her lucrative stripping job due to a lack of day care and her finding religion, although probably not in that order. His time of reckoning occurs soon enough when he almost kills a man one night in the company of his friend Donnie(Michael Shannon). Having found religion, the rest of Sam's life soon follows, as he finds steady work and then runs a successful construction business. So, he decides to go to Uganda to build schools where he meets Deng(Souleymane Sy Savane), a resistance fighter from Sudan.

To its credit, "Machine Gun Preacher" does have a certain cornball charm, mostly due to Gerard Butler in the lead and the fact that Michelle Monaghan can do little wrong. While this is clearly meant to be an inspiring tale of redemption and thus should be given its due respect, coupling Sam's personal journey with a tornado and genocide is perhaps a bit too much. The movie also never gets that deep in exploring Sam's contradictions nor maybe that he is not completely a new man since he has not renounced violence and the possibility that he has just exchanged one drug for another.(Remember what Marx said about religion.) The movie does have some good thoughts on American affluence compared to the rest of the world and bringing more attention to the genocide in Darfur is always worthy(the movie does everything short of putting a 800 number on the screen). But it should also be remembered that one man cannot do everything or be everywhere, no matter how much Sam might think otherwise.