San Diego Reader

Gerard Butler plays the life-based Sam Childers, an ex-con hellraiser who catches some gospel piety from his wife (Michelle Monaghan). He hauls the family to Sudan, where children are being brutalized (or doing the brutalization), and in the name of God he puts his violent skills to work as a rescuer. Marc Forster’s film has two opposing elements that prop each other uneasily: Christian piety and hard-action realism. But the actors (notably Michael Shannon as an addict getting a new chance) provide some pulpy conviction. 2011.

— David Elliott

• Rated R | 2 hours, 3 minutes
• Official website

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