Machine Gun Preacher

Machine Gun Preacher is a 2011 biographical action drama film[3] about Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher and defender of South Sudanese orphans. The movie was based on Childers' book Another Man's War[4] and Ian Urbina's Vanity Fair article Get Kony.[5] It was written by Jason Keller, directed by Marc Forster, and stars Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon.

Machine Gun Preacher
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMarc Forster
Produced byRobbie Brenner
Deborah Giarratana
Craig Chapman
Gary Safady
Screenplay byJason Keller
Based onAnother Man's War by Sam Childers
StarringGerard Butler
Michelle Monaghan
Michael Shannon
Music byAsche & Spencer
CinematographyRoberto Schaefer
Edited byMatt Chesse
Production
company
Distributed byRelativity Media (North America)
Lionsgate (International)[1]
Release date
  • September 11, 2011 (2011-09-11) (Toronto)[2]
  • September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23) (United States)[1]
Running time
129 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$3.3 million[3]

The film 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).

Machine Gun Preacher premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival,[6] and opened in the United States on September 23, 2011.[1]

Plot

In South Sudan the LRA are attacking a village and force a young boy to attack a woman.

Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) is an alcoholic drug-using biker from Pennsylvania. On his release from prison, he finds that his wife (Michelle Monaghan) has given up her job as a stripper, because she has since accepted Christ as her saviour. Initially infuriated by his wife's decision, he returns to his routine of partying and using drugs like heroin with his fellow biker friend Donnie (Michael Shannon). One night while on a bender with Donnie, he almost kills a vagrant. He is shaken by the experience, and the day after allows his wife to persuade him to go to church with her, where he is eventually baptized and offered salvation.

Sam soon finds a stable job as a construction worker and later starts his own construction company. Later, on a missionary trip to Uganda to build homes for refugees, he asks one of the SPLA soldiers watching over them to take him on a trip to the north, to Sudan. The soldier warns him that it is a war zone, but at Sam's insistence, they go. They arrive at a medical tent in Sudan. As the soldier moves off to talk to some people, Sam is roped in by a female doctor to help lift a lipless Sudanese woman onto the examination table. That night as they lay on their beds at the relief station, they hear noises outside, and when they look out, Sam and the soldier see large numbers of Sudanese children swarming around to sleep outside the building.

The soldier explains that their parents send them to sleep over here because it is safer than staying in their own village. Sam wakes up the children and gets as many as he can fit to sleep in their room for the night. The next day Sam and the soldier follow the children back to their village only to find that the LRA has burnt it down and killed their parents. One of the children runs after his dog and is killed by a hidden landmine. Sam cradles the dead child and cries. The experience traumatizes and changes Sam. After returning home, Sam has a "vision from God" and decides to build an orphanage for the children of South Sudan, as well as a church in his own neighborhood that will be "open to all" without judgment. After its completion he begins preaching at his church and helps his old friend Donnie get sober and find God as well. He soon returns to Africa and despite vocal opposition, builds the orphanage. One night after it is built, the LRA attack it and burn it to the ground. Sam then phones home, telling his wife what has happened and that he is giving up. She reminds him that the orphans have been through worse but they have not given up, and that he should not give up and tells him to rebuild the orphanage.

After the orphanage has been rebuilt, Sam and his friends from the SPLA are attacked on the road by the LRA. After managing to chase off the small force of attackers, they search the area and discover a large group of Sudanese children hiding in a ditch not far from the road. Since they cannot take all the children in one trip, Sam chooses to take the ones who need medical attention along with a few others on their first trip back to the orphanage. However, upon returning to the spot as quickly as he could, he finds that the LRA killed and burnt those he had left behind. This causes Childers to lead armed raids to rescue children from the LRA.[7]

Sam returns home to the U.S. disgruntled and exasperated by the lack of money for the project. He also feels disconnected from his community; he is disgusted by displays of excess and the petty "problems" of his family and friends, as well as their apparent apathy toward the children of Sudan. Sam even goes far as to neglect his family and beat up a biker at a bar for making racist comments about the children. Meanwhile, his friend Donnie breaks his sobriety and ends up dying from an overdose. This pushes Sam further into negativity and despair. He sells his business and boards a plane for Sudan. His faith and mission is revitalized when an orphan boy tells his personal story to Sam. The boy tells him that if he allows hatred to fester in his heart, his fight against injustice fails. Sam also rekindles his emotional attachment with his family over the phone. The next day he engages with the camp actively. Later he goes out with SPLA and rescues a caravan full of children who were kidnapped by LRA. The end credits include black and white pictures of the real Sam Childers, his wife, daughter, and his orphanage in Sudan. The pictures are followed by a short black and white home video clip of Sam talking about his work.

Cast

Production

Filming commenced in June 2010 in Michigan.[10] The film had a gala premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011[11] and limited release on September 23, 2011.

Sam Childers has shown a shortened and edited version of the film at Christian charity events.

Soundtrack

Chris Cornell wrote the song "The Keeper" for the film, which he also performed on The David Letterman Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[12]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 29% of 112 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.9 out of 10. The site's consensus is: "There's a complex man at the center of Machine Gun Preacher but the movie is too shapeless and emotionally vacant to bring his story to life."[13] The film has a score of 43 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 32 reviews.[14]

Machine Gun Preacher was produced on a budget of $30 million and made $3 million worldwide, a mere 1/10 of its budget.[3]

See also
  • In a Better World (2010 film)
  • "My Star in the Sky" a documentary on the true story of survival, friendship and love between two child soldiers abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during the conflict between Uganda and Sudan.[15]

References
  1. "TOLDJA! Relativity Taking Over Distribution Of 'Machine Gun Preacher' From Lionsgate; Release Date Set For Sept. 23". Deadline.com. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  2. ""Machine Gun Preacher" Premiere - 2011 Toronto International Film Festival". 93.3 WMMR. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  3. "Machine Gun Preacher (2011)". Box Office Mojo. 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
  4. "Machine Gun Preacher - review". London Evening Standard. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  5. Urbina, Ian (May 2010). "Get Kony". Vanity Fair.
  6. "Machine Gun Preacher: Toronto Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. "Machine Gun Preacher: review". The Telegraph. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  8. Fleming, Mike (2010-05-07). "Gerard Butler's 'Machine Gun Preacher' Locks Start Date And Co-Stars". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  9. "Full Cast and Crew: Machine Gun Preacher (2011)". IMDb. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  10. "Machine Gun Preacher–Locations (IMDB)". pro.imdb.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  11. Evans, Ian (2011), "Machine Gun Preacher premiere photos", DigitalHit.com, retrieved 2012-03-20
  12. "Exclusive: Chris Cornell Talks Writing Music for MACHINE GUN PREACHER, His Career, Soundgarden, Touring, Johnny Cash, Video Games and Much More". Collider.com. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  13. "Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  14. "Metacritic". Retrieved 21 Feb 2013.
  15. http://jackson.yale.edu/event/screening-of-my-star-in-the-sky-and-qa-with-filmmakers/
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