Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon

Director: Marc Forster
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1586752/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Gun_Preacher

You know how Africa has a lot of problems? All those wars and child soldiers and everything? Ever wanted some guy to go around and kill all the bad guys with a machine gun and then make a movie about him with the guy from "300"? Then this is the movie for you! Or is it...?

Based on the true story of Sam Childers, Gerard Butler plays the protagonist, a drug addict just out of jail who does not seem too concerned about changing his ways. But after a night on the town goes terribly wrong, he decides to follow his wife's advice and becomes a born-again Christian. He starts to turn his life around by getting a job as a building contractor before eventually starting his own company. But things really start to change when he takes part in a Sudanese outreach program and becomes heavily involved in their cause. Wanting to build and run a church, he is constantly under attack by the rebels who are trying to either kill the children in the area or turn them into soldiers. Eventually he has enough, so he picks up a machine gun and starts wiping them out, determined to stop them at all cost.

This movie is one of those films that "is what it is." Despite its title, it is not really about religious faith, but it does highlight the moral issues surrounding the plight of African children. Childers represents these issues at various points in his mission and it becomes clear that he does not do well with the word "no." Despite his controversial ideas and actions, he keeps pushing forward until he gets his way. He gets very angry when a friend of his who shortchanges him on a check to give to his church while throwing a party at his multimillion dollar house. However, it also happens when his daughter asks to rent a limo for her formal, with her responding with the quote "you care more about those black babies than you do about me." It shows how people in the developed world can dismiss those in the developing world, but also that those who fight for a good cause can sometimes go overboard, however pure their intentions may be.

You have to give credit to Butler as he does a good job showing Childers in the various stages of his life. While it is not exactly an Oscar-worthy performance, for his own sake, it is good to see that he can actually act. Not that he did not do an amazing job in the classic that is "Gamer," (http://docuniverse.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-gamer-2009.html) but it just seemed like he got overshadowed by a masturbating fat guy and Dexter trying to pull off Frank Sinatra/Michael Jackson. Yes...classic...

There are probably two big flaws with this film. First of all, it does not have very good pasting, particularly in the beginning. It just bounces from Jail, Drugs, Redemption, Happy Life, Africa in really short order. I know that this first part is not really the main focus of the movie, but they could have slowed it down a little it by adding an extra scene here or there. Luckily it gets easier as the film goes on.

The second problem is that the film comes off as being really heavy-handed. This may seem a bit obvious since this is about genocide in Africa. I guess it feels especially so because it is very blunt; while it may talk about the big issues and how it effects people, there is no real subtly to it and at times it feels like it is being thrown in your face. But in a way, that is kind of the point. Childers is a very straight forward person and the style of the picture seems to put that upfront and center.

So that is that. Like always, I am judging the movie based on what I saw, not on what actually happened (they do show some photos of the real-life Childers during the end credits and it concludes with a video in which Childers poses a poignant, if rather disturbing question, to the camera). I cannot say that this movie is for everyone because of everything I just mentioned, but I personally liked it overall, and if it seems it suits you, I recommend it.

I do not own the rights to these pictures and links; they belong to their respective owners and are being used for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue me.

REVIEW: Source Code (2011)

Director: Duncan Jones

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

Website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/

"It's the same train, but it's different."

-Colter Stevens

This sci-fi thriller revolves around a guy played by Matt Gyllenhaal, who is taking a break from trying to solve the Zodiac murders to be a military captain thrust unwillingly into a scheme by the government to try and stop a series of bombings. One train has already blown up, and if they can figure out who did it, they can prevent further attacks. Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, who does not know where he is or why the people in charge won’t tell him too much information. It is lucky for them, perhaps, that Stevens is also so heroic and noble, or else they may have had a much harder time getting anything accomplished. Because at the end of the day, that is what Stevens wants – to save the day and help people, like he joined the military to do anyway. But is it right to pull off experiments like this anyway? That’s a major theme in the movie. Do we go for scientific advancement, even at the expense of the freedom of our hard-working soldiers? It’s a heated debate and people will have some varying ideas and opinions on it. The technology featured in the film is more or less technobabble, but it’s creative and works well in the context of what’s going on. You never get the feeling that the writers didn’t know what they were talking about. It’s very tightly constructed and played so even if you have no clue what they’re talking about, you get the general gist of what’s going on.

Things get complicated by a beautiful woman named Christine (Michelle Monaghan), who was a passenger on the train. Now, the problem with that is that everyone on the train is a ‘shadow,’ and isn’t really real at all. They’re already dead, having died that morning in the explosion. Stevens is in the body of the guy Christine was with on the train. Naturally, being a red-blooded male, he quickly falls for Christine, not caring one bit that she is nothing but an illusion in a computer. That’s a very typical kind of romance, but it’s done here with a lot of flare and gusto. It never feels cliché and even though we don’t get to know Christine very well, we do understand that Stevens is under pressure and needs comfort. It’s a spontaneous and passionate fling in a desperate time. A romance of a rather unusual nature, but also a very warm and heartfelt nature, too.

Source Code also packs some of the best thriller scenes I’ve seen in 2011 so far as Stevens tries to figure out who planted the bomb on the train. There is a very logical and surmounting sense of discovery here – we find out what he does. As the film goes on, the things he figures out get bigger and bigger, and we begin to fit everything together like a puzzle. This is a lot of fun and really makes things move very quickly, with a lot of flow to it. As in classics like Die Hard 3, you really feel the claustrophobia of time closing in as he has only 8 minutes each time he goes back and tries, mind you. I won’t spoil too much of what happens in the individual scenes, but rest assured it is all awesome. Any fan of action or sci fi will be satisfied with the film’s electric and high-octane thrills and chills.

The film deals with themes like choice (Stevens never got to choose to be put into this program – they forcibly put him in) and the capturing of individual moments, as nothing lasts forever and we’re supposed to enjoy things while we have them – as the rather glorious finale shows us. This movie is great and is compulsively watchable. The acting is well done, the directing is good and the story is snappy and compelling. It’s just a solid, well rounded movie, and one that I found myself really into by the end. I’ll definitely be putting this on my yearly top 10. Even if it does have too much product placements for Dunkin’ Donuts. Seriously, guys. I’d rather not crave a donut while trying to enjoy this movie, you know!

Review: Due Date (2010) TH

Having toleration is an understatement

After Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) gets a quick look at the guy who just hit the door off of his chauffeur's car at the airport, like with everything else he's a busy man who doesn't think very much about the bearded guy who's probably got more than an issue or two hidden behind the facial fortress. But soon enough that man with a perm to match turns into that person who just won't go away. He's the most foulest, unashamed "companion," but one who instead acts more like a capture of his every next move. As the saying goes, "Sometimes you have to give a little to get a little," but no matter what he does to compromise, the pesky man named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) just keeps getting worse and causes Peter to nearly reinvent himself along the way so he can just get to his wife's labor in time but first he has to cover a stretch from Atlanta to L.A. Simple enough, right?

This is easier said than done, as he's got no ID, money, luggage or car, and he just got put on the No-Fly list due to a misunderstanding involving Ethan. Now, the man who just caused him enough grief offers him a ride in his rental car with his little dog Sonny because he's going to Hollywood to become an actor, face-shot portfolio, impressions and all. Peter grudgingly excepts, because how bad could it really be? Well, he probably puts up with more idiocy than Charles Darwin himself researched and catalogued. He's the Clint Eastwood of comedies as he's a man of fewer, quicker words and isn't used to opening up. Ethan, on the other hand, is an imploding, extroverted personality all his own. Though he's a walking, talking conundrum: nice, but rude, giving, but takes, a talker, but not a listener, and then sympathetic in one way and a jerk the next. If that wasn't enough Peter meets all kinds of contradictory characters in middle America that he might not have ever seen or wanted to see ever again. Including rude and violent employees and drug dealers who want him to watch their obnoxious kids while they score a deal.

"Due Date" is a comedy/adventure that is often delivered with deadpan humor that revolves around the ridiculousness of the situations and interactions, rather than droves of inventive dialogue or witty one-liners. The whole trip is a trip, so some impossible and implausible scenarios happen that can insult one's intelligence from getting into fights, near death accidents and possible trouble with the law, but that is only if you take it seriously. Zach Galifianakis puts on a detestable but commendable role as a delusional, sheltered man who's naive and unapologetic but he doesn't even realize it himself. Robert Downey Jr. plays it straight but is able to still line up the comedic scenes and slip in a few lines of his own when it gets the best of him. The R is for drug use, frequent cursing and some minor sexual references. The greatest aspect about this movie, is it never lets up. Even when there's a supposed sad and touching scene, something still manages to goof up, go unexpectedly wrong or put the two actor's back on the ropes. Like the old gag of pulling away with a handshake, it puts the unsure audience on edge but still leaves room to anticipate what will happen next. It's still a growing experience that breaks down their barriers to make the two leads who are entirely different people beforehand now either best friends or just knowledgeable chums that are still at each other's throats.

Director: Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis
Website: IMDB

Quotes:

Ethan: "Dad, you were like a father to me."

Heidi: "You know, only, like, fucking jerk-offs get perms."

Ethan: "I'm not an accountant Peter. I'm not even Jewish."

Peter: "How have you made it? How have you not run yourself over in a car?"
Ethan: "I've done that."

Ethan: "God Almighty, holy moly. It's like I'm traveling with a child!"
Peter: "Did you use the restroom?"
Ethan: "Good point. I need to take a pee-pee."