The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) Searchlight/Drama RT: 126 minutes Rated PG-13 (sexual content, drug abuse) Director: Michael Showalter Screenplay: Abe Sylvia Music: Theodore Shapiro Cinematography: Michael Gioulakis Release date: September 17, 2021 (US) Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Mark Wystrach, Sam Jaeger, Louis Cancelmi, Gabriel Olds, Fredric Lehne, Chandler Head, James Huguley, Randy Havens, Lila Jane Meadows. Box Office: $3.8M (US)
Rating: ** ½
When Copernicus determined the sun is the center of the universe, he never considered the possibility of alternate universes and their centers. Even if he had, he still wouldn’t have discovered the bright, shiny star that was Tammy Faye Bakker. The wife of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, she’s definitely the center of her own universe according to the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick), the late Tammy Faye is portrayed by Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) in a singular performance destined to reach the same cult heights as Faye Dunaway’s Joan Crawford. She’s also the best thing about the film.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye takes us through a substantial portion of its subject’s life starting from her impoverished childhood in rural International Falls, MN where she first found religion despite the objections of her bitter mother (Jones, 24) whose divorce from Tammy’s father was frowned upon by the church. It then takes us to her first meeting with future husband Jim Bakker (Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge) at North Central Bible College and their subsequent marriage a year later. They got their start on television after being discovered by a rep of Pat Robertson (Olds, Calendar Girl) at a roadside motel. Their show Jim and Tammy aired on CBN for nearly a decade before they departed for Jim to found The PTL Club in ’74. Their ministry soon evolved into the PTL Network and made the Bakkers extremely wealthy. That, of course, led to huge problems for them in the 80s.
If you were around (and aware) in the 80s, you must remember the scandal that brought down the house that Jim and Tammy built. In short, Jim bilked his “partners” (as he called them) out of millions in donations to his ministry. Not only that, it came out he had an illicit sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn. Allegations of homosexuality were also made. He was forced to step aside as PTL head which paved the way for a takeover by Reverend Jerry Falwell (D’Onofrio, Full Metal Jacket). All the while (save for a brief affair and drug addiction), Tammy Faye stood by her man, crying on TV as needed.
It’s difficult to say how I feel about The Eyes of Tammy Faye. It’s not that I hate or dislike it; I just don’t know how to take it. It’s being characterized as a drama, but it feels an awful lot like a comedy at times. Jim and Tammy Faye are two figures who lend themselves extremely well to satire. The same can be said of Falwell who’s painted as a sanctimonious, homophobic ass who practices deceit more than what he preaches. It could be argued that the broad performances of the two leads are meant to be comedic until you remember that the real Jim and Tammy Faye had larger-than-life personalities. Still, it’s kind of hard to take Garfield seriously in the role. He always looks like he’s ready to burst out laughing and he has this twerpy voice that undermines his efforts at being a serious actor. To be fair, he was great in Hacksaw Ridge, but he sucked as Spider-Man.
The other problem with The Eyes of Tammy Faye is the underdeveloped script by Abe Sylvia (Dirty Girl) who based his screenplay on the 2000 documentary of the same name by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. It doesn’t explore the major events in Tammy Faye’s life with any real depth. It plays out, for the most part, like a highlights reel. It basically glosses over the whole Jessica Hahn thing which isn’t good considering she was a major part of that sordid tale. It leaves out crucial information like Tammy Faye marrying developer Roe Messner (Jaeger, Parenthood) after her divorce from Jim. He’s the guy who built Jim’s Christian-themed water park. It’s odd Showalter never mentions it. Characters come and go without explanation. The movie tends to forget the Bakkers had children (two to be exact); we never see how the scandal affects them. Basically, the screenplay is bit of a mess.
No doubt, The Eyes of Tammy Faye is Tammy Faye’s show all the way. With her gaudy outfits and trademark heavy makeup, she’s every bit the star as any Hollywood actress. The thing is she’s also a genuine person who truly cares about people. In a time when evangelicals were condemning gays to hell and saying AIDS is a punishment from God, Tammy Faye accepted them as fellow children of God. She preached acceptance even interviewing an AIDS patient on her talk show. As kind as she was, she was also foolish and naïve, blindly following her husband into an opulent lifestyle funded by lies, dishonesty and deceit. Chastain captures it all and creates a memorable interpretation of Tammy Faye.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye isn’t breaking records at the box office, but I predict it will be this generation’s Mommie Dearest, especially with Chastain’s campy performance. The real Tammy Faye, who died of cancer in 2007, was a gay icon in her final years. I can see fans showing up to midnight screenings dressed in their Tammy Faye finest. It’s not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unforgettable.
