Movie number 6 of 2022
The Movie: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Stars: 3.75
I took myself along to this out of curiosity, and after seeing an interview with Jessica Chastain during the week, relating how she prepared to become the larger than life televangelist. I have a dim recollection of Tammy Faye Bakker being on the television, and the news of the Praise the Lord network. And to be honest, I just don't get it, but I'm not a charismatic Christian.
I am, however, a lover of good cinema, and this is not a bad film.
This biopic looks at the life of Tammy Faye Bakker, from her humble beginnings in rural Minnesota through to the end of her marriage to Jim Bakker in the early nineties, and everything in between. A simple, devout Christian girl, she goes off to college, finds love with Jim Bakker and goes off with him to spread the word of the Lord - embezzling thousands of people on the way.
The film borders on pastiche, or would border on parody if it wasn't for the knowledge that Tammy Faye really did wear her makeup like that. She was that upbeat, happy, joyful person who just wanted to love everybody.
Although I got frustrated with this film in places, mainly due to my utter ambivalence with Charismatic Christians, this was a very cool movie, as we watch Tammy Faye turn into the reknown icon she turned into, Jessica Chastain embodies baker, but saying that, she's always been a bit of a chameleon.
What's best about the film is it's complete immersion in the seventies, eighties and nineties with all their excesses. The shagpile carpets, the shoulder pads. The thin eyebrows. The heavy make up - it's great.
The film also shines a light on the internal workings of some of the big televangelist movements - and I'm sitting there thinking how can people be suckering into this sort of crap - but this is showing America fifty years ago when the television evangelists were just starting out. It's mind-boggling how gullible people can be.
Another great part of the film is Andrew Garfield's performance and Jim Bakker. It's a subtle, nuanced performance, which raises more questions than it answers about this American icon.
Anyway, by the end of the film, as we know in real life, Tammy Faye divorced Jim, remained, became a gay icon and died at the age of 65 in 2007. But the film doesn't go that far.
What I took away from this was Jessica Chastain's excellent performace is possibly going to get her another Oscar nod and some people are very, very gullible - but maybe that's because I'm very sceptical about the charismatic Christian cause (I'm sure you all know my views on Hillsong Church...)
This is an interesting film. Not for everybody, but worth the ticket price for Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield's performances.
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