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    Machine Gun Preacher

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    Films based on true, on-going events are tricky business. What if the second you finish wrapping up filming an event so big happens that everyone who sees the movie leaves disappointed that it wasn’t included? What if the person it’s about turns out to be a total scumbag that nobody wants to see glorified on the big screen? To me, this issue is very much applicable to 2011’s "Machine Gun Preacher". There are a lot of good things present and it’s a story that’s worth being told. There are also some shortcomings and whether you enjoy it or not depend on two things: how inspirational you find the people involved and what kind of a movie watcher you are.

    Gerard Butler (in a pretty good performance) plays Sam Childers, a man who has a Christian rebirth after years of being rotten. He goes into East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war. Once there, he is shocked and outraged by the atrocities going on and decides that a combination of rebuilding and force is what God is asking from him. He becomes a sort of military leader to combat the LRA while also building and maintaining an orphanage. The movie chronicles his life from his release from prison to 2010/2011-ish, while also showing some of the strains felt by his friends and family by this crusade.

    Butler and the story itself are the reasons to see the movie. A lot of people no doubt feel the way Childers does, that pacifist aide is one thing, but that when confronted with guns the only thing you can do is fight back. As portrayed in this film, Sam Childers is a complex person that has doubts when it comes to his mission and clearly feels a lot of guilt for his past. There are scenes where he explodes in a rage that show that even though he has changed a lot from his days in prison, inside he may still retain some of his old habits. Perhaps it isn't so much that he's found a peace within himself as much as he's found someone onto which he can redirected his inner rage.

    A problem with the movie is that this is a fictionalized and exaggerated version of a true story and you can tell. During the credits sequence, we can see that not only is Sam Childers alive, but he is also ok with being seen on camera. When the movie is over you want to see a documentary about this guy, not a Hollywood version where some of the less savoury bits of the true story have been "edited out" or sugarcoated. While most of the film rings true, there are at least a few characters that feel inserted only to hush up critics of Childers’ methods. A woman that confronts Childers about his use of weapons is conveniently rescued by the man late in the film and then disappears completely. She literally has no more than a dozen lines and is completely unnecessary to the story, but her inclusion makes the point clear. This true story is complex and it isn’t over. We don’t know what the end results of these efforts will be, so to me the movie feels somewhat like a cash-grab. Get this story out before anyone else does, it doesn’t matter that the ending hasn’t been written yet! Do some of the rescued children, turn out to be too traumatized to be saved? Are peaceful efforts that use non-violent tactics more, less or equally successful than Childer's way? We never get answers to these and other big questions.

    Despite the problems of the "based on a true story" film format and some cheesy plot elements there is one notable fact that raises the movie into "worth seeing" territory. The truth is that most people wouldn’t have heard about this story. It’s painful to say, but I feel like for many large chunks of the continent of Africa are simply “Bad places where black people kill each other”. I would hope that if you don’t think that picking up a gun and blowing away people who kill is a good idea this movie would make you think of a gentler solution, or look at the real story of what is going on in South Sudan. While a documentary about this man would have been better, documentaries aren't exactly the type of film that draws large crowds. A film called "Machine Gun Preacher" starring Gerard Butler as a man who saves children and goes into Africa ready to kick ass? That has the potential to reach a lot of people. That's why the type of person that you are dictates whether or not this movie is for you. If you're not the kind of person that would be interested in documentaries, this movie will thoroughly satisfy you with the good performances, action sequences and drama that's supplied. The film successfully affects you emotionally because I think that deep down a lot of people wish they could do what this man is doing and really making a difference. Plus, action movies are about the good guys beating the bad guys and the bad guys don't get much worse than these.

    "Machine Gun Preacher" is not flawless but it wants to be inspirational and wants to affect you emotionally by introducing you to this true story. In that sense, it's successful. Is it flawed? Yes. Am I being manipulated by the movie as I am reviewing it? I believe I am. I think the cause the film is promoting is making me enjoy the movie more than I would if it was all fiction. With that said, there are a lot of things that are good about it too so if you're interested, check it out. You might even find yourself inspired. (On Dvd, May 6, 2013)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  7.1.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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