Film Review: THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (2021): Jessica Chastain Makes a Bid For Oscar Glory With Her Touching Performance

The Eyes of Tammy Faye Review

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Michael Showalter and starring Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Vincent D’Onofrio, Cherry Jones, Sam Jaeger, Fredric Lehne, Louis Cancelmi, Coley Campany, Randy Havens, Joe Ando-Hirsh, Kimberly Hester Huffstetler, Gabriel Olds, Chandler Head, Jay Huguley, Mark Wystrach, Meredith Jackson and Lindsay Ayliffe.

Jessica Chastain plays Tammy Faye Bakker and delivers the performance of her career in director Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye. This new film sheds some humanity on the life of Tammy Faye who was married to Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield). Showalter’s picture gives audiences a glimpse into the world of televangelism and shows how its two main characters fell prey to their desire for financial security which in turn overshadowed the principles of the philosophies they were preaching. Chastain has never been better and her performance here is one of Oscar-caliber. It would be very surprising if she didn’t take home the Academy Award for Best Actress at next year’s Oscars.

When the movie opens, Tammy Faye is a child. Chandler Head ably portrays Tammy as a young girl who discovers her faith in God which leads her to a bible school when she is older where she meets Jim, a creative Christian man who ends up falling in love with Tammy Faye. They end up getting married. Tammy has an innocence about her. She plays with puppets and starts using her own puppet character, Susie Moppet, to preach the word of God alongside her husband at churches where they hope to win over children and their parents. When their car is towed due to nonpayment of bills, they meet Pat Robertson (Gabriel Olds) who enlists the pair to do a show for kids. The film then chronicles the rise of the Bakkers who become overnight sensations. With their rise to fame comes a lot of sacrifices such as their passion for one another. Tammy wants Jim to pay more attention to her as he becomes obsessed with getting pledges and dealing with the overseers of their program which include the very conservative Jerry Falwell (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Cherry Jones, in a solid performance, is featured in the movie as Tammy’s mom, Rachel. In a hilarious early scene, Tammy calls her mom because she can’t fall asleep and the mother says the call woke her up which in turn makes Tammy seem needy and self-centered. But, as portrayed by Chastain, the audience actually sympathizes with her predicament as Jim distances himself from her to keep the money coming in. Jim even exploits his wife when she engages in a brief affair with a music producer (well played by Mark Wystrach). Jim makes Tammy seek forgiveness on television to show her flawed nature to the world which will in turn get them more pledges.

In essence, Tammy Faye was a woman who held on to a child-like personality and basically looked the other way to have nice things and a beautiful home while her husband got in way over his head with a business that was far more complex than either one of them ever imagined. But, the movie lets us discover that it may not have been Tammy Faye’s fault for being who she truly was as a person. She still seemingly had faith in God and offered hope to those who were different. A touching scene shows Tammy talking with a gay pastor who has AIDS (Randy Havens) and, as a result, offering her viewers humanity and encouraging them to accept people who are different in to their lives.

The movie doesn’t make Tammy Faye a saint nor does it make her a villain. It simply portrays the events of her life with her husband and shows how their initially beautiful marriage transcended into something neither of them wanted it to when they turned their attention to making money.

Andrew Garfield does a nice job playing Jim as a man who is going to eventually be escorted out of a business he knew little about going into in the first place. The movie shows Jim’s attraction to men as well further complicating an already complicated marriage.

Chastian is pure gold in this performance. With her heavy makeup and fancy clothes, she makes us somewhat root for Tammy Faye throughout the movie. When Tammy is looking to secure work later in her life to feel more important, she meets with an executive and tries to sell him ideas that are dated and unworkable but we want Tammy to have opportunities to do more with her life. She is filled with passion and determination. Those unique qualities about her are expertly conveyed through Chastain’s work. If there’s any justice in the world, she’ll at least be nominated for the Oscar and will, hopefully, win.

Like Renee Zellweger did in Judy, Chastain steals The Eyes of Tammy Faye right from under the rest of the cast’s feet.  Like Judy, the new film closes with Tammy Faye performing in front of an audience. Tammy Faye’s live audience was a lot less glamorous than Judy Garland’s was in the closing scene of Judy. Garland was singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in front of people at the end of that film. As Tammy Faye performs a song after all the heartbreak she’s experienced in her life, she imagines backup singers around her as she puts her whole heart into the song. We honestly believe this will be Tammy Faye’s last hurrah and for all the embarrassment she faced, Tammy emerges gloriously in a heartfelt performance that touches the heart.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is Jessica Chastain’s movie from beginning to end and she deserves to have her name called when the Oscar winner for Best Actress is announced next year.

Rating: 8/10

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