The real-life story of orphanage founder Sam Childers is enthusiastically adapted, even if personal growth dominates proceedings a little too comprehensively
Man on a mission ... Machine Gun Preacher
Gerard Butler finds a snug fit for his own brand of soulful aggression in this real-life tale of a born-again ex-con builder who knocks up an orphanage in war-torn Sudan. Sam Childers is half saint, half psychopath: a lock-and-load crusader who blasts away baddies with one hand and coaxes scores
of cute kiddies to safety with the other. Director Marc Forster devotes ample time to Childers' spiritual grappling and DIY savvy, with the result that the supporting cast (glazed Michelle Monaghan, bug-eyed Michael Shannon) barely get a look in and the narrative feels a bit patchy, a prisoner to a personal story rather than an especially cohesive one. Plot holes hobble the gloss; at least two gun battles abruptly end at what looked like a critical moment. At other times, you're wrong-footed more pleasantly: an encounter with a fragrant doctor doesn't resolve into cliche, and the ending is mature.
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