Machine Gun Preacher

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Machine Gun Preacher
1984 Private Defense Contractors
Mpower Pictures
Virgin Produced
Distributed byRelativity Media (North America)
Lionsgate (International)[2]
Release dates
Running time
129 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$3.3 million[3]

Machine Gun Preacher is a 2011 American

Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the children of South Sudan from the atrocities of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The screenplay by Jason Keller was adapted from Childers' book Another Man's War[4] and Ian Urbina's Vanity Fair article "Get Kony".[5]

The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival[6] and opened in the United States on September 23, 2011.[2]

Plot

In 2003 in southern Sudan, the LRA attack a village and force a young boy to kill his mother.

A few years earlier,

Christ as her savior. Dumbfounded by her decision, he returns to a life of crime and partying and doing heroin
with his friend Donnie, and one night he almost kills a vagrant. Shaken by the experience, Sam goes to church with Lynn, where he is baptized and offered salvation.

With a new outlook on life, Sam is able to find a stable job as a construction worker and later starts his own company. He helps Donnie get sober and goes on a

displaced persons camp because it is safer than staying at home, and Sam brings as many as will fit into his and Deng's room to sleep. The next day, Deng takes Sam to a village that was attacked by the LRA, and Sam sees a child get killed by a land mine
.

Traumatized and changed by the trip, Sam receives a vision from God that tells him to build both a church in his own neighborhood, which will not turn anyone away, and an

child soldiers
, from the LRA.

At home, Sam becomes increasingly unempathetic toward his family and their petty problems, his sermons become angrier, and his sole focus becomes raising money to fund his work in Africa. In Sudan, he starts to make an impact, with Kony putting a price on his head and SPLA-leader John Garang inviting him to upcoming peace talks, though Sam does not attend. One night, he and some SPLA soldiers are attacked on the road by the LRA. After chasing off the attackers, they search the area and discover a large group of children hiding in a ditch. They cannot take all of the children to the orphanage in one trip, and when they return for the children they left behind, they find a pile of burned bodies. Events such as this, along with Donnie's death from an overdose after Sam yelled at him and he broke his sobriety, push Sam away from God and further into despair. He sells his construction company and goes back to Sudan, but his changed attitude leads his men to no longer trust him to lead them in battle.

William, the boy who was forced to kill his mother at the start of the film and subsequently ended up at the orphanage, tells Sam his story and reminds Sam that their fight is already lost if they become full of hate. His faith and purpose revitalized, Sam begins to play with the children at the orphanage and calls his daughter to say he loves her. Later, he goes out with some SPLA soldiers and rescues a caravan of children kidnapped by the LRA. There is again not enough space to take everyone to the orphanage in one trip, but this time Sam and a few soldiers stay to protect the remaining children.

Cast

Production and release

Filming commenced in June 2010 in Michigan.[8]

The film had a gala premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011,[9] and a limited theatrical release on September 23, 2011. Sam Childers has shown a shortened and edited version of the film at Christian charity events.[original research?]

Soundtrack

Chris Cornell wrote the song "The Keeper" for the film, which he performed on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote it.[10]

Reception

On

weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

Globally, Machine Gun Preacher made $3 million at the box office, a mere 1/10 of its $30 million budget.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ ""Machine Gun Preacher" Premiere - 2011 Toronto International Film Festival". 93.3 WMMR. June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "TOLDJA! Relativity Taking Over Distribution Of 'Machine Gun Preacher' From Lionsgate; Release Date Set For Sept. 23". Deadline.com. July 7, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d "Machine Gun Preacher (2011)". Box Office Mojo. December 1, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "Machine Gun Preacher - review". London Evening Standard. November 4, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Urbina, Ian (May 2010). "Get Kony". Vanity Fair.
  6. ^ "Machine Gun Preacher: Toronto Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. September 12, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Fleming, Mike (May 7, 2010). "Gerard Butler's 'Machine Gun Preacher' Locks Start Date And Co-Stars". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  8. ^ "Machine Gun Preacher–Locations (IMDB)". pro.imdb.com. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  9. ^ Evans, Ian (2011), "Machine Gun Preacher premiere photos", DigitalHit.com, retrieved March 20, 2012
  10. ^ "Exclusive: Chris Cornell Talks Writing Music for MACHINE GUN PREACHER, His Career, Soundgarden, Touring, Johnny Cash, Video Games and Much More". Collider.com. September 30, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved February 21, 2013.

External links

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