Many years ago, one of James Thurber's fables (a series of short stories involving animals to satirize the human condition) dealt with a bear who drank until he fell asleep, misbehaved and made life miserable for his family. When he reformed, he exercised until he fell asleep, harshly criticized those who did not believe and made life miserable for his family.
Hello, "Machine Gun Preacher," in which Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) is a violent biker who drinks, shoots drugs, robs people and frightens his family. One Sunday, shortly after being released from prison, he goes to church with his wife and accepts Jesus. Then he visits Africa, decides to help children, kills people, screams at those who are less converted and frightens his family.
The movie, which opens today, will alarm anyone who sees Jesus as a Prince of Peace.
Overwritten, gory and distinguished by some very bad acting, it could have been a fascinating tale because Childers is a real person. Instead, writer Jason Keller and director Marc Forster turned it into a series of cliches and some over-the-top violence. Butler shows emotion as if he were modifying a noun — angry, angrier, angriest. Michelle Monaghan, as his wife, a one-time stripper who is the first to convert, alternately tries to reason with him and cowers in fear.
His biker friend, Donnie (Michael Shannon), and his Sudanese lieutenant (Souleymane Sy Savane) are like the cartoon characters who perch on his shoulders, the former continuing his heroin habit, the latter displaying loyalty, intelligence, discipline and strength. Both are written like comic-book cliches, Savane at least is a believable actor.
While there is lots of shooting of automatic weapons, there is little discussion of who is on which side in what apparently is a civil war of some sort. Everybody kills children, and "Machine Gun Preacher" is a bloody, obscene mess.
Machine Gun Preacher opens today at Plaza Frontenac
— Joe