MACHINE GUN PREACHER
Year: 2011
USA: Relativity Media
UK: Lionsgate UK
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Kathy Baker, Madeline Carroll, Michael Shannon, Souleymane Sy Savane, Inga R Wilson, Joshua Drew, Brett Wagner, Barbara Coven, Peter Carey,
Director: Marc Forster
Country: USA
USA & UK: 129 mins
USA Rated: R for violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, violence, threat and gory injury detail
USA Release Date: 23 September 2011 (Limited Release - New York and Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 2 November 2011
Synopsis
In this inspirational true story, MACHINE GUN PREACHER is about Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the saviour of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Childers, the impassioned founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization in Golden Globe-nominated director Marc Forster's (MONSTER'S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND) moving story of violence and redemption.
When ex-biker-gang member Sam Childers (Butler) makes the life-changing decision to go to East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war, he is outraged by the unspeakable horrors faced by the region's vulnerable populace, especially the children. Ignoring the warnings of more experienced aide workers, Sam breaks ground for an orphanage where it's most needed—in the middle of territory controlled by the brutal Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers before they even reach their teens.
But for Sam, it is not enough to shelter the LRA's intended victims. Determined to save as many as possible, he leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children, restoring peace to their lives—and eventually his own. The explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease and enslavement, MACHINE GUN PREACHER also stars Michelle Monaghan (DUE DATE), Kathy Baker (COLD MOUNTAIN), Madeline Carroll (MR POPPER'S PENGUINS), Academy Award® nominated Michael Shannon (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD) and Souleyman Sy Savane (DAMAGES).