Simon Dillon reviews the film

Machine Gun Preacher tells the fascinating true story of Sam Childers, a criminal who converted to Christianity and ended up defending orphan children against the Sudanese rebel militia.

The film begins after Sam (Gerard Butler) is released from prison. He discovers his drug-addict stripper wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) has left behind her former lifestyle and become a Christian. Initially furious at this news, Sam resumes his criminal activities and drug taking. But after a particularly violent encounter with a tramp almost ends in murder, Sam has his own conversion experience. Afterwards, claiming he has had a vision from God, he goes to Sudan to build an orphanage. But once there, he finds the children are being killed or forced to become soldiers by the rebel militia. Refusing to stand by and do nothing, he starts to fight back.

As a film, Machine Gun Preacher is somewhat messy, with a choppy narrative that skims over huge sections of its subject's truly extraordinary life. This is particularly evident in the first act where large chunks appear to have been left on the cutting room floor. But as the story develops, it becomes more focused and gripping, as Sam decides to take a stand against the militia who are attacking and killing the children he is trying to build a better life for. Marc Foster directs competently, and this is certainly one of his superior efforts. Gerard Butler seems to have been born to play this role, and he rightly dominates the film, though Michelle Monaghan does well in the limited role of his supportive wife.

In spite of its cinematic flaws, Machine Gun Preacher is first-rate as a piece of creative evangelism. It delivers the Christian message in gripping, compelling fashion without compromise in a way that is accessible and completely cringe-free. It is also chock-full of swearing, violence, gore and all sorts of things that will send certain Christian audiences I know running for the hills. This, as far as I'm concerned, is great news. I for one am heartily sick of the patronising, trite, and completely unconvincing gamut of films made by Christians that singularly fail to deliver the goods, simply because they have this crazy idea that every film should be family friendly. There is nothing family friendly about the evil Sam confronts, and quite frankly I would have been offended if it had been watered-down at all. I was also particularly impressed by the way the film didn't glibly suggest that everything was fine after Sam's conversion, but that he had to learn difficult and sometimes painful lessons as his life continued. The latter section of the film - when despair and hatred threaten to engulf him and alienate him from his family - provides an excellent example of this and gives the story real dramatic weight.

Sam's actions (taking lives to protect lives) can hardly be described as conventional Christianity, especially in light of Bible verses like Ephesians 6 verse 12: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood". But the film forces the viewer to think very hard about the end justifies the means argument. Given Sam's extraordinary achievements (the building of churches and orphanages, his evangelistic endeavours, the many lives he has undoubtedly saved), and given scripture verses like Matthew 7 verse 16 ("You shall know them by their fruits"), it becomes very difficult to criticise him - at least, on the evidence presented in this film.

In the now obligatory "real person in end credits" segment, there is a final word from the man himself, challenging viewers who disagree with his methods in a way that does not offer an easy answer. If you do see the film, this bit is well worth staying for.