Machine Gun Preacher

Actors:  Gerard Butler, Michele Monaghan, Kathy Baker, Michael Shannon
Rating:  6 out of 10, this was a Netflix rental that we checked out after seeing the preview on another movie because my wife swoons at any appearance of Mr. Butler.  This is the real life story of a Pennsylvania hood who found Christ and is trying to save children in war torn Africa.  This film had a really good premise but it couldn’t figure out how to tell the story.  The plot becomes very episodic and they never delve enough into the reasons behind some of his biggest life decisions.  I mean we get it, this guy is driven, but they don’t spend enough time developing the background. There were a couple of moments where they could have spent just a little bit of time demonstrating why he was doing certain things, Butler is certainly a good enough actor to have carried it off.  The film also severely under uses Monaghan, one of my favorite actresses, as Butler’s wife.  It’s obvious that their relationship is one of the prime motivations for Butler’s character but it is given very little quality time on screen.  This could have been something really cool, but missed.
MVP:  Butler carries the movie as the scarily driven Sam Childress