Machine Gun Preacher
A; Drama, Biopic
Dir: Marc Forster
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon,u00a0Madeline Carroll, Souleymane Sy Savane
Rating: * * 1/2 u00a0(out of 5)



The most compelling part of Machine Gun Preacher is probably the end credits, wherein we see the real-life Sam Childers, a violent missionary (an oxymoron if there was one) fighting for human rights in war-ravaged Sudan, via documentary footage. After two hours of a much handsomer Gerard Butler play his cinematic avatar, this is the part of the movie that really hits home with its intimacy and realism.

This, in essence, is the problem with the movieu00a0-- a well-intentioned film about an interesting character and an eye-opening world issue that settles for being its own cinematic avatar. Machine Gun Preacher has its heart in the right place, but chooses to gloss over technicalities such as depth of characterisation and lucid storytelling.