Machine Gun Preacher Review

Machine Gun Preacher is obviously based on the true story (hence the rant) of Sam Childers, a former drug dealing biker who found God and then went to Africa to crusade for the child soldiers of the Sudan area. We meet Sam (Gerard Butler) as he’s being released from prison and is picked up by his “baby mama” Lynn (Michelle Monaghan). Initially Sam’s return home gets off to a rocky start and it only gets worse when he finds out that Lynn has found God and thinks he should stop his sinning ways as well. He tells her exactly what he thinks of that idea and heads off to the bar to meet up with his old pal Donnie (Michael Shannon) and they get up to some less than savory activities. After a crazy night night on the town Sam has an epiphany and gives his life to God and almost over night becomes a changed man.  With Sam now attending church regularly he hears about the plight of his Christian brothers in Africa at the hands of vicious warlords and the need for help in the Sudanese area.  What starts off as a quick trip to Africa to lend a helping hand with some construction turns into a full scale crusade to save the orphaned children and child soldiers after he witnesses the everyday horrors of the area.  Sam begins to obsess over the African children as he gives more and more of his time and money to the cause but he soon finds out that what he’s doing isn’t enough so he goes on the offensive.  What he doesn’t realize is that while he’s trying to do good in Africa he’s destroying his life at home and his obsessive behavior begins to make him look more like a madman than a savior.   

There are couple things that work against Machine Gun Preacher.  First off it’s overly preachy; there are whole segments of the film where I felt like I was watching a commercial for the Christian Children’s Fund but instead of an old bald white guy with the beard you get Gerald Butler looking like he’s going to stroke out at any second screaming at the camera.  I have no problem with the Christian Children’s Fund or any other charity but I don’t need to be preached to or, in the case of Machine Gun Preacher, scolded at for how frivolously I spend my money or made to feel like an asshole for ordering a Coke and some candy for my movie.

The Christian Children’s Fund guy, the real Sam Childers, and Gerard Butler

The equally large problem with Machine Gun Preacher is the simple fact that Sam Childers’ is one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve run across in a long time.  He starts off as an amusing asshole biker but everything that was amusing about him disappeared when he found god.  From that point on he’s on an ever increasingly downward spiral of trying to help the needy while continuing to fuck over everyone he knows.  He says horribly ugly and hateful things to people he claims to love and then claims the things he did he did in God’s name.  I found him to be a completely unsympathetic character and while his heart was initially in the right place almost everything he did to try and help the African people made me dislike him more and more.  If the real Sam Childers is as big of a jerk as Gerard’s performance makes him out to be then I will say bravo for at least being true to the actual man.  It takes some balls to make a movie where your “hero” isn’t far away from being the most despicable person in the film so if they stuck to the truth then the film earned a little respect back from me.  Most of the supporting cast is just there to look concerned for Sam either by crying or directly asking him if he’s ok.  It’s too bad that Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon aren’t given more to do but this is Gerard Butler’s show and he doesn’t relinquish his soapbox for anyone.

Machine Gun Preacher was directed by Marc Forster who had previously directed Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner and most recently the last James Bond film Quantum of Solace.  He’s a capable director that’s able to handle both the dramatic (preachy) scenes and the action oriented material.  When Machine Gun Preacher is being an action film it’s a lot of fun and the action is well done but unfortunately most of the film is focused on making the audience feel guilty about how they’re living their lives.  There are numerous sermon scenes that seem to go on forever with the theme always being along the lines of how we need to be God’s avenging soldiers and how we need to give more money to the cause.

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”

I really wanted to like Machine Gun Preacher, it had a lot of things working in its favor such as a strong cast, a good director, and an interesting premise but the film crumbles under the weight of it’s subject matter.  Gerald Butler doesn’t come off half as heroic as he does a prick, Marc Forster’s direction is uninspiring in all but the action scenes, and the serious plot leaves absolutely no room for enjoyment which in the long run is the film’s greatest weakness… it’s simply not fun to watch.  Instead of spending $20+ at the theater to see Machine Gun Preacher and feeling like a jerk for wasting your money on yourself go ahead and just donate some money to Sam Childers’ charity at http://www.machinegunpreacher.org/donate/ that way Sam won’t have to scold you.