Another day, another biographical film to see. A couple weeks ago, I reviewed "Worth," which is absolutely -- forgive me, worth your time to see on Netflix. This week the publicists were kind enough to provide me a review copy of "The Eyes of Tammy Faye."
The story centers on the lives of controversial televangelists Tammy Faye Bakker and Jim Bakker, the latter of whom is still alive and grifting, God bless his soul. Normally, I try to stay as far away from televangelists as I can. Actually, given my "lifestyle," I try to stay away from most evangelical pastors, televised or otherwise.
That said, I grew up in the age of Joel Osteen and megachurch pastors. The Bakkers were a bit before my time. Out of all the film critics you read in this section, I'm the only one who wasn't alive when the Challenger space shuttle exploded. So I went into this movie mostly ignorant of who these folks were.
But when I watched the trailer, it was Jessica Chastain's performance as Tammy Faye that really grabbed my attention. Little did I know she would go on to be the sole factor that makes "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" worth watching.
SETTING THE TONE
The film opens with actual news footage shortly after the arrest of Jim Bakker for accounting fraud. And it sets the tone for this movie. Viewers aren't here to root for Andrew Garfield as he does his best to transform into a felon and pastor.
After the news footage is done, an older Tammy Faye sits in a chair talking to an off-screen makeup artist about her glamorous look for a photo shoot. She reveals some of the makeup she wears is permanent, and the camera stays right up in her face. It's intentionally uncomfortable and establishes a theme throughout the film that Tammy Faye doesn't shy away from who she is. She is unapologetically flamboyant in appearance.
"The Eyes of Tammy Faye" eventually shows our titular character as a young girl who is prevented from attending church with her family because her mother divorced and remarried. Tammy peers in the windows of an Assembly of God church where her mother plays the piano. It's a very charismatic scene with people speaking in tongues and holding their hands up.
Later at supper, when Tammy Faye informs her mother she wants to be saved and attend church, the strict matriarch, Rachel LaValley (Cherry Jones), says she can't come. Because LaValley divorced and remarried, she wouldn't even normally be allowed in the church. But they let her in because she's the only one who could play the piano (ah, hypocrisy). And LaValley worries that Tammy Faye will remind the congregation of her divorce (I assume because she was from the previous marriage) and get her siblings kicked out.
'HORRIBLE MOTHER'
LaValley is a horrible mother, unsupportive of Tammy Faye in any endeavor. Right at the dinner table in front of everyone, LaValley tells Tammy if she gets her siblings kicked out of the church, she'd be responsible for their souls winding up in hell. And that came after LaValley said little girls who lie go to hell. She also makes theologically contradictory statements like, "There's a limit to God's love, Tammy Faye."
So, yeah, this character is essentially a less dramatic version of Margaret White from "Carrie." And I might have written a few expletives about LaValley in my notes while I watched the film.
Eventually Tammy Faye grows up and attends Bible college, where she meets Jim Bakker, already preaching about how God wants Christians to prosper, not be poor. Immediate red flags appear but Tammy Faye is immediately attracted to his prosperity Gospel message.
It's worth noting Chastain runs circles around Garfield in her performance. The former Spider-Man just seems stiff in his role as a supposedly charismatic (charming) pastor. And while the makeup artists did a stupendous job making Chastain look like Tammy Faye as she aged throughout the film, Garfield just looked like himself. I'm not convinced he was the best actor for this role.
But they marry quickly and start on their dream of being traveling pastors, eventually meeting more established televangelists like Jerry Falwell (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Pat Robertson (Gabriel Olds).
MORE TELEVANGELISTS
The film does a great job of setting up Falwell as a secondary antagonist for Tammy Faye. And D'Onofrio (Netflix's "Daredevil" series), gives a really great and scummy performance. Eating lunch at Robertson's ridiculous mansion, Tammy Faye meets Falwell, and while the men (plus Faye) dine at a table by themselves, he rants about the liberal agenda, feminists and homosexuality.
Falwell's character says things like, "This gay cancer [AIDS] is affecting our families."
But Tammy Faye, who legitimately does want to love people, and went on to have a history of LGBT acceptance in real life, tells Falwell she doesn't think of folks as "the homosexuals." She just thinks of them as people, people she wants to love as Jesus loved. It earns her some grunts and dismissals among men at the table.
Outside of Tammy Faye, the movie does its best to establish nearly every minister in the movie as a con artist out for wealth. Everyone has his own version of what "God" has been telling him.
MARRIAGE IN SHAMBLES
As the contributions from parishioners pour in, Bakker dreams bigger and bigger, while Tammy Faye sings big and bold right alongside him, even though at home their marriage is in shambles. Where Garfield gives his best performance is as a toxic and neglectful husband, yelling at Tammy Faye and treating her poorly. Both are unfaithful to each other, and eventually, Bakker confesses he used pledge money to try and silence the woman who accused him of raping her.
From there, the empire Bakker built collapses around him as investigators move in, and Falwell takes control of the PTL Satellite Network, turning on Bakker and Tammy Faye. These pastors just eat each other alive, and if any viewers are already distrustful of organized religion, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" is only going to add to their doubt. It certainly had that effect for me.
As more news clips from real life play around Bakker's arrest, the sequence of events gets a little confusing. But eventually Tammy Faye is divorced and living in a much smaller house, pitching television series to folks who aren't interested, and getting teased by neighbors.
But you know what I found most inspirational throughout this movie is how positive Tammy Faye remained. That's not to say she didn't struggle and cry and fight with Bakker. But through the collapse of their media empire and losing their rich lifestyle, Tammy Faye remains glamorous and upbeat, sure things will eventually turn around.
The real message here is through everything Tammy Faye endured, her own faith seemed to stay intact, even if she questioned where God went. She loved on gay folks during the HIV/AIDS epidemic that other Christians were scared of and shunned. She continued to sing and inspire people, showing them the light of a caring God she wholeheartedly believed in. And Chastain portrayed all of this to the best of her ability.
I'm left impressed that "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" could tell a religious story about a real woman who went through everything she did and still came out the other end with her own belief in a higher power and love intact. And it accomplished this without any of the ham-fisted dogmatic cliches that render other films like "God's Not Dead" unwatchable.