DVD Review: Machine Gun Preacher

It's not often we can say a truly bad man has become a truly great one.

Sam Childers was a bad man who killed, stole and beat whoever got in the way of his criminal ways.

Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of his life.

When Childers (Gerard Butler) was in prison, his devoted wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) found her salvation with God and begged him to change when he came out. After one last crime too many he knew he had to change.

He founded his own community church to offer a sanctuary for "down-and-outs" like him.

Taking his Christian ministry a step further, Sam decided to travel to East Africa to help with charity building work.

While there, he learned of the plight of the people of southern Sudan who were being massacred in their thousands by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by the now infamous Joseph Kony.

Children were either being killed, orphaned or driven into Kony's army.

Childers could not believe what he was seeing. He now had a mission in his life. He vowed to build an orphanage in militia territory to provide a safe haven for the children. And he would protect them at all costs.

When everyday measures failed to deter the militia, Childers took up arms like the old days and put an end to as many in the force as possible.

But what Childers goes through begins to play with his mind and the bitterness of death wells up inside him.

He must find peace with his family, his community and his African family if he is to succeed with his noble aim.

Machine Gun Preacher is disturbing and brilliant.

Machine Gun Preacher

(R16), Roadshow Entertainment

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars