¨Why don't you fight the evil in this place
your way, and let me fight it mine.¨
Marc Foster has directed some interesting
movies in the past such as Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace, and Monster`s Ball,
but in my opinion his best film is Finding Neverland; a movie I absolutely fell
in love with; so each time Foster makes a new film I am always looking forward to what he is going to do next. His latest
film, Machine Gun Preacher, was a very emotional and entertaining film. It
combined a lot of action with an emotional drama that worked really well thanks
to the lead performance from Gerard Butler. I enjoy these types of
inspirational movies where we have a lead character with several flaws who
tries to change his life around and redeem himself from his past. I`ve
witnessed several of these cases in real life where people have been able
through their faith to do great and honorable things despite however dark their
past might have been. I believe the world can be a better place if we can learn
to let go of our past and live a life of love and service for those in need.
Foster makes a very interesting film here and delivers this message in an
unorthodox way. The main character isn’t your ordinary converted Christian.
This guy has a Bible in one hand, and a machine gun in the other. He is willing
to protect those in need by risking his own life. At one point he becomes so
immersed in this calling that he puts aside even his own family. Machine Gun Preacher
is based on the real life of Sam Childers, a former gangster who becomes a
Christian and who`s life changes when he travels to Africa on a Mission trip. I
found it to be a really emotional story, but at the same time very entertaining
as well. Childers shares even the darkest side of him in this story.
The story begins with Sam Childers (Gerard
Butler) being released from prison after having spent there several months for
dealing drugs. He is a redneck who loves to hang out with his biker friends in
bars around Pennsylvania. He has a wife named Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) and a
daughter named Paige. Lynn worked as a dancer at a strip club, but Sam
discovers she hasn`t been doing that anymore since he was in prison. Lynn doesn’t
smoke or drink either, she claims to have found God and has decided to turn her
life around. Sam is not happy about this one bit and continues to live his
normal life spending time doing drugs in bars with his best friend Donnie
(Michael Shannon). One night his life changes when they pick up a homeless man
who tries to steal from them and Sam ends up stabbing him several times. He
realizes he has hit rock bottom and agrees to go to church one Sunday with
Lynn. He ends up finding God and being baptized. Sam`s life turns around
completely as he abandons his life as a drug dealer and begins to make a living
as a construction worker. A few months later his hometown is hit by a
devastating tornado which works out really well for Sam because he has much
more work to do now and ends up managing his own construction business. Sam
hears about a mission group that is going to Africa and decides to go. His life
changes when he arrives in Sudan and experiences the horrors of the civil war
as young kids are being taken from their villages by the rebel army. He
befriends one of the army officials named Deng (Souleymane Sy Savane) who tells
him what is going on in the country. Sam decides to help out by building an
orphanage for the kids and rescuing those who have been taken by the rebels,
but he will realize just how big the fight really is as it takes up most of his
time and resources.
I already mentioned that Gerard Butler is good and
believable in the lead role, but he also had a strong supporting cast to rely
on. Michelle Monaghan was surprisingly good in last year`s science fiction
thriller Source Code, and here she delivers a strong dramatic role. She is very
supportive of her husband and always has a word for him when he`s discouraged.
Michael Shannon received a lot of praise for his role in Take Shelter, and in
this film he`s good although he doesn’t have much screen time. He`s a great
actor, and in the little scenes he was in he was good. I really want to speak
about Souleymane Sy Savane, an actor I loved in the small film Goodbye Solo
where he played a taxi cab driver who befriends an old man. Savane is really
good and it was a real pleasure to see him in this film. I really felt
emotional during some scenes which were difficult to watch or really opened my
eyes as to the necessity that some of these people have. I might not agree with
the way Childers does things, but I was touched by the passion he had for those
kids. This is a very powerful and emotional film and I think Foster doesn’t disappoint
with the way he directed this movie.
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