[Screen It]

 

"MACHINE GUN PREACHER"
(2011) (Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan) (R)


Alcohol/Drugs Extreme
Blood/Gross Stuff Extreme
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude Extreme
Frightening/Tense Scenes Heavy
Gun/Weapons Extreme
Imitative Behavior Heavy
Jump Scenes Minor
Music (Scary/Tense) Extreme
Music (Inappropriate) Mild
Profanity Extreme
Sex/Nudity Heavy
Smoking Moderate
Tense Family Scenes Extreme
Topics to Talk About Heavy
Violence Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Drama: After a born again conversion, a recently paroled biker starts his own church in the States while also opening an orphanage in war-ravaged Sudan with the intent of rescuing and saving as many kids there as possible.
PLOT:
Sam Childers (GERARD BUTLER) is a coarse and crude biker who's recently been released from prison, only to go back to his bad boy ways alongside his friend Donnie (MICHAEL SHANNON), shooting up heroin and getting into trouble, much to the chagrin of his mother, Daisy (KATHY BAKER), wife, Lynn (MICHELLE MONAGHAN), and their young daughter, Paige (MADELINE CARROLL).

That's especially true since Lynn became a born again Christian while Sam was incarcerated and wants him to follow her path. He's initially adamantly against that, but following a close call where he beats up a man who attacks him and Donnie to the point that he thinks he's killed the man, he takes her lead, is baptized and joins her church.

With a new outlook on life, Sam decides to open his own church that will cater to the kind of people many churches would otherwise reject, and then goes on an altruistic mission to war-ravaged Sudan where he's shocked by the atrocities committed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Run by Joseph Kony, those soldiers pillage villages, kill the adults and abduct the children who they force into becoming young soldiers or sex slaves.

With the aid of good soldier Deng (SOULEYMANE SY SAVANE), Sam decides he'll start an orphanage there to care for the orphaned children who've managed to survive. But as the atrocities continue, Sam decides to take action into his own hands to take on the LRA and rescue and save as many kids as possible. As he does, however, his obsession in Africa puts a strain on his family life back home in Pennsylvania and he must decide what his true calling in life will be.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Unless they're fans of someone in the cast or are interested in the real-life story, it doesn't seem likely this will have mass appeal among kids.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality.


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