| Machine Gun Preacher | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Marc Forster |
| Produced by | Robbie Brenner Deborah Giarratana Craig Chapman Gary Safady Adi Shankar (Executive) |
| Written by | Jason Keller |
| Starring | Gerard Butler Michelle Monaghan Michael Shannon |
| Studio | Apparatus Safady Entertainment 1984 Private Defense Contractors Mpower Pictures |
| Distributed by | Relativity Media (North America) Lionsgate (Overseas)[1] |
| Release date(s) | September 23, 2011[1] |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 Million |
| Box office | $1,905,492[2] |
Machine Gun Preacher is a 2011 action biopic film about Sam Childers, a biking preacher-defender of Sudanese orphans. The movie was written by Jason Keller, directed by Marc Forster and stars Scottish actor Gerard Butler as Childers. It tells the story of Childers and his efforts to save the children of South Sudan in collaboration with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) against the atrocities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
Filming commenced in June 2010 in Michigan.[3] The film had a limited release on September 23, 2011.
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The film is an adaptation of Childers' memoir Another Man's War.[4] Childers was a an alcoholic drug-using biker from Minnesota. On his release from prison, his wife persuades him to go to church with her where he is eventually converted. Later, on a trip to Uganda to build homes for refugees, he moves north to build an orphanage. It is from here he leads armed raids to rescue children from the Lord’s Resistance Army.[5]
The filmed received mostly negative critical reviews, with audience reviews being more mixed. Catherine Shoard of The Guardian felt that Childers' life story is "enthusiastically adapted" where he is shown as "half saint, half psychopath", but complained of plot holes.[7] Robbin Collin of The Daily Telegraph felt that the film was "too much in awe" of Childers and failed to show his real character.[5] David Sexton of the London Evening Standard felt that Butler is "plausible as a man of contained and uncontained violence" and praises the way the film shows the change in the man. However he felt that the film was a collection of unconnected set pieces.[4]
John McCarthy of the Catholic News Service feels that the film focused on action rather than Childers' spiritual journey. In the film Childers doesn't renounce violence, love his enemies or attempt to defuse a hostile atmosphere. The Catholic News Service classified the film as "morally offensive".[8]
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