Machine Gun Preacher is a story of redemption, just don’t blink, or you might miss the redemption part.

Gerard Butler plays Sam Childers, a violent biker and hard drug addict who miraculously finds God and turns his life around by travelling to Africa to save children living in the war torn Sudan. For the most part, the story is gripping and does justice to the film’s title with equal parts shooting and preaching. Butler delivers a strong performance and always seems pretty at home in roles where he’s the tough bad guy with a softer side.

The problem with Machine Gun Preacher is that Childers’ transformation from an abusive alcoholic to the savior of the Sudan is far too sudden. Indeed, his subsequent transitions from conviction, to doubt, to greater conviction, to greater doubt, and finally… even greater conviction regarding God and his cause in Africa, all happen far too quickly and don’t feel as convincing as a result.

This is perhaps the inevitable problem of making a film based on a real-life person where a story that happens over a period of years has to be compressed into two hours. Multiple scenes and characters seem incomplete and exist simply to enhance the story of Childers’ one-man crusade against evil.

The moral lesson of the film, is that we in Western society take our wealth and comfortable lives for granted, and generally choose to ignore the plight of those in living in Africa who are not quite as fortunate as us. While the guilt trip Marc Foster enthusiastically serves up to audiences is just as transparent as the ignorant characters that refuse to give Childers money in the film, overall, as an effort to raise awareness and a call to action, Machine Gun Preacher is a success.

In the end, there are times when the movie does feel more like it’s about Childers the born-again white crusader and less about the overall cause he was serving in the Sudan, but ultimately, viewers are likely to leave the theatre asking whether they are doing enough themselves and probably concluding that they are not.