So, I knew very little about Sam Childers. More shocking than that, I knew very little about the film about his quest. I pride myself on being up to date with most new films, especially when such A-listers like Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan (So Hot) are attached. My movie going buddy was going to watch this because he has literally seen everything else that is out. I was gonna watch Moneyball or 50/50, but when MGP it was over there were no regrets. For a film that topped at 23% on RT, I had my doubts. What I did notice was that Gerard was a producer, and when that happens, it seems to be important to that person. He did pour himself into being Sam Childers, which looked like it would be hard. Here's the back story for those of you who are as clueless as I was. Sam was not a good guy. The film starts with his release from prison, for which we are not informed why he was detained, but real soon we get the picture that this Biker/Gang member/drunk/heroin junky is not a nice dude. Upon his release, his wife Lynn (Monaghan) his wife pisses him off real quick. She quit her stripper job, found Jesus, and stopped drinking and smoking. Sam has a big issue with all the new changes and we see what type of person he really is. Some bad stuff happens to Sam over the next few weeks and he gives Jesus a chance as well. He cleans up, starts his own construction company, and essentially he is working hard for his redemption. I gotta say, 35 minutes into the film, I had no idea how they were gonna transition him into Africa. It just seemed like it was not headed that way at all. He was taking care of his family and all was well. Then a guest speaker missionary spoke at their church about the work he was doing in Africa. Sam thought he could help, so he books a trip to go over there and help clean up and rebuild for the people. While over there, he wanted to see Sudan, which was the site of a major civil war. A freedom fighter named Deng took him into the war zone, and I don't think Sam had any inclination how bad it was gonna be. Once back stateside, Sam can't sleep due to what he saw, and how he feels about the situation. Innocent men, women, and children being slaughtered for no reason. He wanted to help, so he decides 2 things. He was gonna build a church across from his house for all the people who were interested in the word of the Lord, but felt outcast by all the other local churches, and 2nd, he was going to the Sudan to build an orphanage for all the people in need of refuge. I never felt Sam was doing this for personal glory or a pat on the back. He was fully invested for those kids. This movie had to be difficult to make. Not only the fact that kids are being killed, but the fact that in my estimates, it spans about 10 years give or take, and that needs to be compressed to a coherent 2 hour film. The story does a few things very well, and some things could have been minimized. The struggle Sam has within is his fight. No one expects him to to continue his work, but it becomes his obsession and he expects everyone to be on his page. Butler had to play several characters in this film. The violent junky. The born again Christian. The obsessed crazy person, and a man looking for redemption who feels like no matter what he does, the Lord could never forgive him. The film takes a long time to develop Sam into the "Machine Gun Preacher", but once it does, it is superb. I do feel they shot not only too many scenes in church, but too long of scenes. I do feel several of the church scenes where Sam is preaching while wearing his heart on his sleeves were very necessary, but a lot of them are not. I have not talked about Donnie, yet he was an integral part of the movie and of Sam's life. Donnie is portrayed by the always brilliant, usually creepy Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire's Nelson Van Alden). Like I said, the film does a great job of compressing all those years into a film, and I must say, if it hadn't been a true story, I don't think I would have appreciated it as much. I probably would have thought it was too gory and violent, but being true, I now feel it had to be that way, so we can have some idea what Sam fights for still to this day. The final credits are cool too. It shows pictures of the real Sam doing what he does, and we hear him give a short speech about why he does it. Pretty cool stuff.
NBM rates Machine Gun Preacher - Awesome
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