I only knew the caricature of Tammy Faye Bakker. I knew she was a pill-popper and a foundation-addict. But aside from her clownish appearance and the rumors surrounding her, I knew nothing of the real woman. Having grown up with an intense dislike of ALL religion, I certainly didn’t choose to watch televangelism. That’s valuable cartoon-watching time being wasted! Hence, I could treat this film as a learning experience, so –forgive the phrase- I hope to God this movie wasn’t lying to me.
Tammy Faye grew up with a Godly desire so intense she actually snuck into church to satisfy it. This by itself is completely anathema to who I am, but –hey- this movie ain’t about me. For fear of scandal over illegitimacy, li’l Tammy was banned from church by her humorless and stern mother (Cherry Jones). The movie suggests that this is how Tammy grew up to be generous of soul despite constantly being surrounded by evangelical vultures.
In college, Tammy (Jessica Chastain) meets Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield), a firm believer of the church of prosperity … the very same one that plagues all RW politics today. [As an aside, I can almost understand this POV if you’re old and cynical and understand the relationship between politics and religion, but youngsters who believe in the prosperity gospel are a sad, sad sight.] Now, it should be pointed out that Jim and Tammy really did start with an idea of making the world a better place (however they pictured what “better” meant) through God. Sure, they were hideously naïve and I would argue the 20th Century as sound proof that a belief in God doesn’t necessarily lead to good things … but it seemed as if their hearts were in the right place when they discovered television.
And discover television they did! While on preachin’ tour, the young couple has a chance meeting with a station manager and before long Jim and Tammy have their own Puppet Show and God hour on local stations. It’s only a matter of time before that evolves into the PTL, and a network with twenty million followers.
The film leapfrogs in time often to get to the seminal points in the lives of these two. While the camera constantly follows The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jim shows up periodically to demonstrate a new personality trait…he loves Tammy … he’s a salesman … he doesn’t love Tammy … he’s homosexual (?) … he’s bisexual (?) … he’s a grifter … I want to be clear about this as well: The Eyes of Tammy Faye sees Jim as deserving of prison, but Tammy -who was with him both on and off stage for decades apparently had nothing to do with Jim’s shenanigans –aside, of course, from reeling in new fish from time-to-time. You can choose to believe that or not.
This film is such an odd portrayal – Tammy Faye is pleasant enough to have a strong television audience, yet completely unaware of how she is perceived. I’d say this is impossible, but we all know damn well how two-faced evangelicals can be. [You cannot preach love and Trump in the same breath and have anyone with a brain take you seriously.] This brings us to Jerry Falwell (Vincent D’Onofrio) who knew as early as 1970 where the evangelical church was headed politically. The fact that Falwell 
was a political player at all should tell people exactly how morally bankrupt his vision was. So you have a scene where the PTL owns acres and acres of estate where in one corner, the Bakkers host a camp for underprivileged and disabled children, and in another corner, they own an ungodly huge mansion where profits are skimmed to support personal opulence, and tons of it.
It is unclear from the film whether Jerry Falwell cared a thing about actual religion, but he sure cared a great deal about power and control and making certain that his church was open to only a selection, and those few need to vote Republican.
I can’t say I was enamored with The Eyes of Tammy Faye. The film is overlong in its desire to get the whole adapted documentary out there. Also, the portrait of Jim Bakker is uneven and doesn’t quite work; that’s not Garfield’s fault – it’s in the writing. The film also only sows the seeds of where we are now, the place where an ugly, bigoted church chooses Trump, power, and money over sanity, love, and –let’s face it – anything that Jesus would have preached at any time. But I recommend this film mildly simply for the performance of Jessica Chastain in the lead role. I have never liked Chastain, but I can say confidently that this is very best work as an actress. She has come close to doing the impossible – making me care about Tammy Faye…and she did it while completely disappearing into the role. Much of this is make-up, yes, but there was never a single moment on screen where my mind said “that’s Jessica Chastain” instead of “that’s Tammy Faye Bakker.” I don’t love this film, the PTL, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye, or anything evangelical, but I did love this performance.
In preaching, Tammy Faye was a true fit
She nearly overflowed with Holy Spirit
Exactly how might it please us
That this instrument of Jesus
Wore more make-up than the clown from It?
Rated PG-13, 126 Minutes
Director: Michael Showalter
Writer: Abe Sylvia
Genre: People you might feel sorry for
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Jessica Chastain believers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People sickened by evangelists of all kinds
