Gli occhi di Tammy Faye

Although I didn't remember many details I clearly recall Jim and Tammy Faye from things going on in the mid- to late-1980s. This movie focuses on Tammy Faye but her story can't be told without focusing on how she and Jim got together in the first place and their rocky years as televangelists.

Count me among the skeptics over televangelists in general. My favorite biblical passage (slightly modified) concerns this, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is to find a totally honest televangelist." Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, just two of the charlatans who preached the word while enriching themselves and behaving badly. Look around today and you'll find many more still in business.

But why blame them? If it weren't for the gullible flock who believe their gas-lighting and lies, who send in donations so that they can be "saved", the televangelists wouldn't exist. Jim was crooked, Tammy Faye was gullible, they both were weak and couldn't resist living the lifestyle of luxury that their ministry allowed.

Although a bit too long, a really good movie, especially for those of us who remember Jim and Tammy Faye when they were in their prime. Chastain, who also was a producer, simply nails the role as Tammy Faye, and she also does all her own singing. I already knew she was talented, I just didn't know how talented. And, she did win the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance.

At home, on DVD from our public library.

Make your punters feel the urge to part with cash, chuck some lippy on, to each eye, apply a large and long eyelash, tell them what they want to hear, push the boundaries as far as you dare, then wait for almighty retribution, while you're counting up your stash.

Great performances but ever so slightly shallow.

"Faith isn't political." Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain)

But Faith is in The Eyes of Tammy Faye-not just a biopic full of secular missteps but also smart, sympathetic, light-hearted, poignant, and the best female performance of the year. This is from someone who thought Jennifer Hudson in Respect could not be bested.

As Tammy Faye Bakker, Chastain (also a producer) stakes out the dramatic territory of resembling the star-crossed televangelist and giving a nuanced performance, including commendable singing, that could make you want to see both Tammy and Jessica again in another completely different drama. You could also want to see a less innocent Tammy if you remember her blind eye for her husband's manifold indiscretions and corruptions.

Forget the makeup, which is remarkable by the way, and just enjoy the masterful depiction of an American classic woman-a star rising to the top at a time when television itself was rising in prominence (beaming shows with a satellite was practically a new weapon). She became a star asserting her talent when men tried to refuse her talent, a woman who rebelled against being left alone while her husband, Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield-playing a smarmy wimp) took the glory and money. Also, a woman who had blind faith in God and mammon at the same time.

Director Michael Showalter, clearly sympathetic to Tammy, deftly takes the complicated soul from wide-eyed innocent to a wayward but still naive adult whose increasingly-gaudy makeup paralleled her fall from grace. Tammy and Jim's descent, ending in his going to prison for fraud and her losing her beloved television presence and Heritage USA theme park, is an accurate depiction of pride's and wealth's inevitable toll.

Besides Chastain's memorable performance of a talented woman determined to be more than just a trophy, Eyes is a docudrama chock-full of issues like gay love, male impotence, social repression, and most of all, the morphing of religion into entertainment.

Allied to these sinful markers is the couple's acknowledgement that wealth is ok to be pursued, even if you preach Christian charity. That Tammy and Jim built in the '70's and '80's the largest TV ministry, the PTL Network, would have been a remarkable feat except for the sinful ways they flourished.

As Chastain plays her, Tammy barely knew the shenanigans Jim and his buds, like Jerry Falwell, devised to milk their worshipers for wealth and real-estate empires. The Eyes of Tammy Faye is not just an historical docudrama; it is a fitting chronicle of the misalignment of church and state and the corruptions of success.

Eyes is a messy Greek tragedy of sin and redemption that won't let you take your eyes off it. Especially if you see it on the big screen.

In this bio pic, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim, create a religious network to reach millions of people and bring them closer to God, but Jim's shady business dealings and lustful urges bring them to their knees.

Both Chastian and Garfield are wonderful as Tammy and Jim and Chastain even does her own singing, acquitting herself nicely. Cherry Jones is also wonderful as Tammy's disapproving mother.

Greetings again from the darkness. We now have the latest example for those who fall on one side or the other when it comes to documentary vs dramatized biopic. Director Michael Showalter (the excellent THE BIG SICK, 2017) and writer Abe Sylvia have adapted the 2000 documentary from Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato - and even kept the same title. The focus here (obviously) is on Tammy Faye Bakker, as she and her televangelist husband Jim skyrocketed to fame before imploding in a quite public and spectacular fashion. Jim went from world-renowned Christian TV personality to scandal-burdened prison inmate, while Tammy Faye rose up from roots of poverty to beloved personality, before becoming a media and Talk Show punchline caricature.

Regardless of your preferred biopic style, or your memories of the Bakkers' rise and fall, most of us can agree that Jessica Chastain delivers a superb and entertaining performance as Tammy Faye. Already established as one of our finest actors, this is truly a passion project for Ms. Chastain, as she purchased the film rights nearly a decade ago. Here, as you might expect, her features are often buried under prosthetics and mounds of make-up to achieve the oh-so-familiar Tammy Faye look. She captures the babyish voice, the recognizable chuckle, and even sings the songs (very well) that Tammy Faye sang on camera and released albums.

Depending on your expectations, the film serves up a sympathetic view of a true believer with a heart of gold, or it merely skims the surface of a ministry filled with fraud, greed, and deception. And it's likely both. Tammy Faye is a bit of an enigma. As a child, she was forbidden by her mother (Cherry Jones) from attending church, as she served as a reminder of the 'Scarlet D' (divorce) burdening her mother. However, one sip of the sacrament sent young Tammy Faye (Chandler Head) into speaking in tongues and on the road to North Central Bible College where she would meet Jim Bakker.

Andrew Garfield portrays Jim Bakker, and captures the very familiar speech pattern and effeminate mannerisms of the man who proclaimed God did not want poverty for his followers ... a belief that led first to the Bakkers' "The 700 Club" on Pat Robertson's (Gabriel Olds) Christian Broadcasting Network, and ultimately to their own network and "The PTL Club", followed by Heritage USA, a Christian theme park. Along the way, they crossed paths with the powerful, ultra conservative Christian, Jerry Falwell (a reserved Vincent D'Onofrio), a man who was envious of the number of followers and the dollars generated by Jim and Tammy Faye. Falwell filled a significant role in how things played out for the Bakkers, and that part is touched on here.

Showalter opts to open the film with a montage of newscasts reporting the Bakker collapse, followed by Tammy Faye in 1994 commenting on her famous eyelashes by stating, "That's who I am." The rest of the film is a re-telling of the Tammy Faye story, though we are left to ponder, 'How much did she really know?". We see a good-hearted person - a woman brave enough to publicly stand up for the LGBTQ community despite the objections of powerful men in the church. We also see a woman who enjoys fine luxury living and asking few questions, while consistently holding to her message, "God loves you. He really does." Evangelicals, hypocrisy, financial standing, and political influence are all part of the story, but this is no deep dive into what sent Jim Bakker to prison. Even the Jessica Hahn scandal garners but a brief mention. Instead, this is the story of one woman who was trusted by so many prior to becoming a punchline. One could even say Jim and Tammy Faye were the pioneers of Reality TV, and their rise and fall are only unusual due to the ties to Christianity.

In theaters September 17, 2021.