The Eyes of Tammy Faye

I wasn't in the mood for much moviegoing when The Eyes of Tammy Faye debuted in September. But I gave it a shot on HBOMax now that Jessica Chastain and her makeup artists have Oscar nominations. It's a respectable biopic all things considered.

This is a narrative remake of the 2000 documentary by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) introduces us to Tammy Faye Grover (Chastain) as a kid (Chandler Head) fascinated by the Church despite her divorced mom, Rachel's (Cherry Jones) objections. She meets Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) at Bible College, and they quickly wed. They spread The Word with puppets and songs. Pat Robertson (Gabriel Olds) hires them to host The 700 Club for the CBN. 

The Bakkers form their own network, The PTL, in the 1970s. They find themselves with a nice family and a spectacular house. Tammy Faye, despite her devotion to Jim, breaks with him and their ally, Jerry Falwell's (Vincent D'Onofrio), rigid views. She shows her support for the gay community upon the onset of AIDS. Their media empire collapses once Jim's financial and marital impropriety is confirmed. 

I wasn't exactly familiar with much of Tammy Faye's life, especially the puppets and the singing career. So, Abe Sylvia's screenplay was a good introduction to her life story. I wish they'd mention Heritage USA, the Bakkers' shuttered theme park, more than in passing (if only because I'm reminded of a Simpsons episode about a similarly ill-fated Bible theme park). It makes a great case for her good nature. The best scene is her televised interview with AIDS patient Steve Pieters (Randy Havens) where she shows him more compassion than a lot of people did in the day. What's especially outstanding is finding out Pieters is still alive as of this writing. 

The makeup team certainly earned their Oscar nod. They perfectly recreate Tammy Faye's overly beautified visage (to put it charitably) on Chastain and convincingly age her and Garfield throughout the years. Nothing is amiss as Tammy Faye goes from college age to her fifties. D'Onofrio is unrecognizable as Falwell. The production design and cinematography create a gaudily oversaturated look for the Bakkers' mansion. It fits well with their inhabitants.

What about the actors? Chastain is convincingly earnest as Tammy Faye. There's some overacting but you'll believe what she says. Her chipper accent becomes lyrical when she voices her puppet characters. Garfield is fine as Jim as he goes from warm to cold. I only felt sympathy for him when Falwell publicly throws him under the bus during a press conference and when he and Tammy Faye reconcile when he's in prison. Havens and Jones give the best performances of the ensemble. Rachel starts off as Tammy Faye's "nothing you do's good for me" mother. But as she mellows out with age, you'll feel sorry for her once she's thrown out of the Bakkers' mansion.

I haven't seen the original documentary. But The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a decent place to start learning about its infamous subject. Don't expect it to give you the full story, though. It's not an audacious biopic but it's not a miserable one either. It's a good showcase for Jessica Chastain and a better one for the makeup department. It's ready to watch on physical and digital media any time now. It's a good way to spend two hours on a slow afternoon.