TORONTO - "Machine Gun Preacher" is another one of those based-on-a-true-story Hollywood movies with an improbable plot and characters that are so larger than life they just don't seem real.
Except unlike most others, this reality-based film refuses to gloss over the dark side of its protagonist and doesn't leave audiences with a heartwarming happily-ever-after conclusion.
"Machine Gun Preacher" is about the life of Sam Childers, a former biker gang member who is entirely unlikable at the outset of the film. Fresh out of jail, he tries to force his wife to work as a stripper and instead of spending time with his young daughter, he heads to the local tavern to get drunk and high. A vicious armed robbery and return to his regular life of crime soon follows.
But a close call during a violent altercation finally convinces him to clean up his life, much to the relief of his family. He gets baptized, finds success in a construction company and builds a small church, where he serves as a preacher. But just as things are starting to get good in the family home, Childers announces that he must follow a vision from God and travel to Sudan to help the country's young orphans suffering in a war zone.
It's a noble mission but it ends up consuming his life -- and his family's finances. While he's doing much good overseas, his own family is left to fend for themselves.
Director Marc Forster, known for helming "Monster's Ball," "The Kite Runner" and "Quantum of Solace," was not yet onboard with the film when he travelled with Childers to see some of the work he'd done in Sudan. That experience convinced him to make the movie.
"When I first heard (about the story) I thought, 'Is this story real?' I couldn't believe it. He's such an interesting hero in a way because he's not a man you can totally define," Forster said during an interview at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
"He did abandon his family and he did leave them behind for another family. And at the same time that he did very heroic things (he also did) very abusive things. It's (a story) about someone who isn't well educated, doesn't have financial means but is able to change the lives of so many. I thought it was just inspirational, and whether you agree with his methods or not is totally secondary."
Childers admits he was nervous about having his life turned into a Hollywood movie -- he's portrayed by Gerard Butler -- but was willing to take the chance to advance his cause.
"Everybody that has a life story done on them -- especially if they're not going to be able to control the final cut -- is going to always have that in the back of their mind, 'Is it going to come out right?"' he said, adding that he was pleased with the final product.
"It showed a guy that was all messed up, a guy that was a scumbag of the Earth, a guy who was willing to do anything to get what he needed, and it showed his life change and it showed his life change because he chose God."
Writer Jason Keller spent about a year and a half working with Childers to adapt his autobiography into a screenplay. Keller made it clear he wasn't going to sugarcoat the darker chapters of his life.
"I started to get a sense of two very different Sams and I certainly started to hear about the old Sam and what a violent, intimidating criminal he was," Keller said.
"It was critical for me as I started to develop the screenplay that we portray that in an honest way while still talking about all the good this man has done. And for me it was difficult. It's not a flattering portrayal of this man, there's no deification of Sam Childers, he comes across in the movie for what he is."
Childers was pleased with Butler's portrayal of him and only has minor quibbles with the movie. He said his onscreen battles against the Lord's Resistance Army are somewhat over-the-top and the gun fights and fiery explosions aren't exactly true to life.
"Some of the action scenes are kind of amped up but that's just Hollywood," he said.
"I had a big problem with that at first but I understand how movies are made now and everything, and I kind of overlook a lot of that because that's Hollywood. But at the same time, that stuff is all based on the truth."
Other members of the cast include Michael Shannon, who plays Childers' best friend.
"It just reminded me -- and I mean I don't have that kind of history, I'm not a Harley rider or a bad boy or anything like that -- of friendships that really mean the world to me, and I still have them," Shannon said when asked what attracted him to the role.
"And to me it's kind of an ode to that -- the two guys that just have been through thick and thin together and would do anything for each other -- and also the story of transforming and trying to find redemption or salvation in life."
Michelle Monaghan plays Childers' wife and wanted to make sure her side of the story wasn't overshadowed by her husband's.
"I wanted to honour her as much as possible, my responsibility was to her," Monaghan said.
"It's really quite extraordinary what she has endured and sacrificed and really just the strength of the person and the faith that she has."
"Machine Gun Preacher" opens in Toronto on Friday, in Montreal on Oct. 7, and in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver on Oct. 14.
