Gerard Butler has not been seen on the big screen now in quite a while, which I am sure many of the ladies will agree that that is a travesty.
But do not fear Butler fans as the Scotsman is making his return this week with Machine Gun Preacher – a completely different role for the actor.
But like every actor’s career Butler has had some great movies and some not so good so, to celebrate the release of Machine Gun Preacher, we take a look at his best and worst work.
– Best: 300
300 remains the role that Gerard Butler is still best known for as he took on the part of Leonidas and led the Spartans to war.
The Zack Snyder directed movie was visually stunning – it really did look amazing.
Ok so it was as deep as a puddle but 300 was high octane action from start to finish – and it was one of my favourite movies of 2006.
– Worst: The Ugly Truth
I’m afraid there was absolutely no love for The Ugly Truth when it was released back in 2009 as Butler teamed up with Katherine Heigl.
The movie followed a romantically challenged morning show producer is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent to test theories about relationships.
Butler is perfectly cast in the role of the slightly chauvinistic Mike and this could have been a very funny premise but the script was just too weak to support this character and performance.
It was just a little bit ‘seen it all before’ and the movie had giggles rather than hearty laughs.
– Best: How to Train Your Dragon
Butler lend his voice to animation project How To Train Your Dragon last year – a movie that was a rip roaring success at the box office.
A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
The movie is visually striking and the great look of the film is supported by a witty script that is full of fast paced adventure.
And Butler is set to voice the character of Stoick the Vast for a second time with the sequel.
– Worst: The Bounty Hunter
Unfortunately The Bounty Hunter was one of the worst movie of 2010 for me – it seems that the rom-com really isn’t the genre for the actor.
Milo Boyd (Butler), a former cop turned bounty hunter, lands his dream assignment when he is hired to track down his ex-wife, reporter Nicole Hurly (Aniston). Needless to say it doesn’t all go to plan.
There is little chemistry between Butler & Aniston and there was nothing believable about their relationship.
The movie is supposed to be a romantic comedy but there is nothing funny about this script and Butler looks very uncomfortable in this genre; I really would avoid it all together.
– Best: RocknRolla
Butler teamed up with Guy Ritchie back in 2009, which saw the director return to the crime caper.
RocknRolla intricate plot full of twist turns and coincidences that brings together all our main characters at the end of the film with some dark undertones of black humour it really is a romp of a ride.
This is a fast paced movie and even the down moments seem to be going at full throttle set to a thumping rock and roll soundtrack.
– Worst: P.S. I Love You
Now unfortunately for Butler all that is bad about this movie is out of his control – having been a huge fan of the novel this is such a disappointing adaptation.
The actor however is fan as the charming and charismatic Gerry but the script doesn’t provide him with anything really to get his teeth into.
The movie doesn’t pack the emotional punch of the novel, which had me crying like a baby, and there are so any changes to the story that you can hardly call it an adaptation at all; more like a re-write.
– Best: Machine Gun Preacher
This week sees him bring a true story to the big screen as he teams up with Marc Forster and takes on the role of Sam Childers.
Sam Childers, a violent, drug-dealing biker whose faith leads him on a path to East Africa, where he finds his true calling as a machine gun-wielding protector of hundreds of refugee children.
Following a brutal incident, Sam’s loyal wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) encourages him to turn to God and he resolves to change the course of his life. Renouncing his hell-raising ways, Sam journeys to Sudan as a missionary to help with the relief effort, leaving his best friend Donnie (Michael Shannon) to take care of his wife and daughter.
There, he witnesses the atrocities that the locals endure at the hands of the vicious Lord’s Resistance Army. Villages are razed to the ground, women are raped and children are kidnapped and forced to serve as child soldiers.
Horrified by what he sees, Childers becomes an avenging angel set on protecting the innocent. Inspired to create a safe haven for the multitudes fleeing enslavement he restores peace to their lives and, eventually, his own.
Machine Gun Preacher is out now