The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a biographical film that follows the controversial career of TV evangelists (Christian priests whose service is reduced to sending religious messages via television) Theme Faye Baker and Jim Baker, a married couple who were considered the most popular personalities in this business during the 70’s and 80’s. Directed by Michael Scholter, the screenplay is based on the 2000 documentary of the same name. The movie release date September 17, 2021 in the United States.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye movie review, plot
Themes Faye (Jessica Chastain) and Jim (Andrew Garfield) met in 1960 at a Christian college in Minneapolis, which they had to leave after their wedding. They went to her parents, where they came up with the idea to preach Christianity using a doll to be more interesting to the children, their parents would come with the children and so the number of believers would expand. The turning point in their careers came with the arrival of television – first they had their own children’s show, and in time they launched their own satellite program, the famous PTL Club, which was watched by over 20 million people.
Our protagonist was a loved one because of her singing, sincere desire to embrace people from all spheres of society and because of her messages of love, acceptance and prosperity. Recognizable by her long lashes and permanent make-up, she and her husband have created the world’s largest network of religious television from humble beginnings, and thus great popularity and influence on people. As is usually the case, in the background of the business were secrets, irregularities and intrigues that threatened to overthrow their empire.
The screenplay desperately wants us to sympathize with a woman who sincerely loved her husband and who truly believed in the power of the divine presence, but lost everything she cared about and became the object of insult and ridicule. It can’t be said that it’s her fault, because Jim was in charge of finances, whom she trusted endlessly, and therefore she couldn’t even know anything. As time passes, her face becomes covered with ever-increasing layers of makeup, as if she were trying to hide her dissatisfaction and frustration in layers of powder.
Honestly, I have always been interested in how certain televangelists became so popular and their rise was very interesting to me. The story of these people seems fascinating, but unfortunately it is realized quite superficially, in the classic manner “everything is great on the surface, but below the surface it is not so”. This means that we have elements that include a growing rift between the married couple, intrigue within the community of televangelists, corruption and hypocrisy, but, although all the time we have hints of a deeper story, everything remains only on the surface.
I am of the opinion that the authors did not want to go into depth so as not to turn out to be strict towards her and her husband, and perhaps also because the film would not be interpreted as an attack on the wider religious community. I have to admit that I failed to connect with the character of Tammy Faye, and even less with Jim, who was extremely disliked by me. The reason for that is that it is simply amazing to me that someone can enjoy fame, the opportunity to record their music and all that provides great wealth, without wondering where that huge money comes from. Temi Faye asked that question only when her marriage was about to break up, and by then it was already too late.
Jessica Chastain bought the rights to this film about ten years ago, and even then she intended the main role for herself. In this film, he plays a woman in the period from the age of 18 to 52 and sings all the songs of Tammy Faye. The actress faithfully conveys her physical characteristics, but in this case it is more important that there is sincerity, passion and compassion in the entire performance. Her performance represents a plethora of talent, but also the victory of the team in charge of make-up and hairstyles – her make-up far exceeds the one that the real Tammy Faye always wore, while, on the other hand, Garfield’s aging was reduced to gray hair and glasses.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a very good biographical film about famous TV evangelists who respects the conventions of the genre and because of that it was realized too routinely, but it is worth watching because of the great performance of Jessica Chastain who gave her character worthy of ridicule a soul and a lot of humanity. Final rating: 7/10
The Eyes of Tammy Faye movie cast and characters
- Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker
- Chandler Head as Young Tammy Faye
- Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker
- Cherry Jones as Rachel LaValley
- Vincent D’Onofrio as Jerry Falwell
- Fredric Lehne as Fred Grover
- Louis Cancelmi as Richard Fletcher
- Sam Jaeger as Roe Messner
- Gabriel Olds as Pat Robertson
- Mark Wystrach as Gary Paxton
- Jay Huguley as Jimmy Swaggart
- Randy Havens as Steve Pieters
- Jess Weixler as Makeup Artist (voice)
source: IMDB