THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE Review — Searching for Depth in Shallow Waters

Share this:

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.

The eyes of Tammy Faye reviewMost 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.

 

 

 

Share this:

Lisa Johnson Mandell

Lisa Johnson Mandell is an award winning journalist, author and film/TV critic. She can be heard regularly on Cumulus radio stations throughout the US, and seen on Rotten Tomatoes. She is the author of three bestselling books, and spends as much of her free time as possible with her husband Jim and her jolly therapy Labradoodle Frankie Feldman.

3 Comments

  1. […] heartfelt performance portrays Tammy Faye as somewhat of a two-dimensional cartoon (in our critical opinion), there’s much more to the woman than meets the heavily mascaraed […]

  2. […] can resist a female spy team movie staring Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, and Fan Bingbing? I certainly can’t, […]

  3. […] this film may sound contrived to some, director Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Big Sick) proves he knows what moves women. One scene says it all. Hayes and Solene are laying […]

Leave a Comment





The Latest

GLADIATOR II Review — Sacrifices Soul to Spectacle

WICKED Review — Can It Really Defy Gravity?

NICKEL BOYS Review, A REAL PAIN Review — Could They Be Contenders?

RED ONE Review — Totally Sleighs the Christmas Genre

EMILIA PEREZ Review — Completely Unexpected and Original

IT’S COMING Review — A Paranormal Doc That Hits Close to Home

HERETIC Review — Religiously Captivating and Creepy

THE HOUSE FROM Review — See What It’s Really Like To Own a TV or Movie Location Home

GOODRICH Review — Michael Keaton Brings It Home

JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX Review — Joke’s on the Haters – It’s Sublime!