Stars: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Madeline Carroll, Kathy Baker, Michael Shannon
Running time: 129 mins
Rating: 3/5

ONE man can make a difference in this inspirational true story about thugturned- guerrilla humanitarian Sam Childers, who abandons his family to wage a one-man war in the Sudan.

Violent biker Childers (Gerard Butler) emerges from prison, seemingly intent on returning to his boozy, degenerate old ways, much to the chagrin of his wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) and daughter Paige (Madeline Carroll).

Then, miraculously, Sam finds God and is deeply moved by a sermon from a pastor who tends to a flock in Africa. So Sam decides to be a good Christian and travel to war-torn Sudan to build an orphanage for the children who have been caught up in the bloody conflict.

In the process, he witnesses shocking acts of brutality perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) against the boys and girls and he takes up arms to protect them, assisted by a Sudan People’s Liberation Army soldier (Souleymane Sy Savane).

Machine Gun Preacher has its heart in the right place and the true story that underpins this uneven fiction is extraordinary, attesting to the endurance of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable evil.

Review: Damon Smith