THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE Review — Searching for Depth in Shallow Waters
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye review attempts to find deeper meaning in a film about shallow people. Her efforts are in vain.
Most people, myself included, remember Tammy Faye Bakker as someone who never met a sequin she didn’t like, best known for her huge eyelashes, lips and hair. Oh yes, and there was that scandal that sent her husband Jim Bakker to jail, involving massive misappropriation of church funds and and an affair with soon-to-be Howard Stern cohort Jessica Hahn.
2021’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye. starring Jessica Chastain and prosthetics in the title role, attempts to flesh Tammy Faye out as so much more than that, with varying degrees of success.
Tammy Faye is portrayed as a chirpy, innocent, eternal optimist whose high-pitched giggle and faith in God is unshakable. The film hardly attempts to cut through the layers of makeup to the core beneath, although there are moving references to her outspoken support of the LGBTQ world, long before other prominent people saw the light.
Although drug addition and infidelity are suggested, Tammy Faye’s true soul seems to be hidden under layers of cinematic concealer. Throughout the film, it seems director Michael Showalter intentionally misleads audiences, especially at the hurried end, in which we’re lead to believe we’ve seen her fall and redemption. Not so fast, Michael — we all have access to Wikipedia where we can read important information you chose to omit. We also have access to the riveting 2000 documentary you borrowed so heavily from (even the title).
Yet, in conversing with people who actually knew the Bakkers I was told that Chastain and Andrew Garfield gave performances that rang absolutely true—the couple that masterminded and ruled one of the most storied televangelist empires in history truly lived their lives as optimistic, naive, narcissistic and uninformed children.
“You’re looking for depth in shallow waters,” one fellow critic told me. “Just enjoy it for the spectacle.” I tried and failed.
Rated PG-13
2 Hours 6 Minutes
If this The Eyes of Tammy Faye review makes you want to put on makeup and go to your nearest cineplex, find times and tickets on Fandango.
Also, see “Five Things You May Not Know About Tammy Faye Bakker” on ReallyRather.com.
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye review attempts to find deeper meaning in a film about shallow people. Her efforts are in vain.
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