Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were religious television personalities during the 1970’s and ‘80’s. They created the Praise The Lord network and the PTL went on to be one of the most popular Christian movements of its time. It also stands as one of the most scandalous Christian movements of its time. The Eyes of Tammy Faye tells the story of their rise and fall…

Story: Comprehensive. The writers started at the beginning and saw the story through to the end. Each milestone that Jim and Tammy reached got just enough airtime to do it justice.

Being a big fan of biopics, I’m always looking for the holes in the story because it’s easy to compare the truth to a movie. This film passes the test. If you didn’t know anything about the Bakkers before you see this, you will have their full story after.

Performances: This is a good story but luckily, it is accompanied by a stellar performance. Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker is spot-on. It is absolute to forget this is a performance and not the real thing. Some of that could be because Tammy Faye was such a character in real life, the possibility of over-dramatization would have been hard to reach, but none-the-less, the campiness ensues. Definite #Oscar nomination for Jessica Chastain.

Other performances of note; Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker is solid, but I’ve seen him be more in a role. Cherry Jones as Tammy Faye’s mother Rachel Grover was also a strong performance. Both good but not sure about nominations. The introduction and peppering of the other Christian personalities – Falwell, Swaggert, and Pat Robertson was also a nice touch without being to prevalent.

Visual: In a Tammy Faye movie, the makeup artists win, yes? Covering Jessica Chastain in makeup and prosthetics would have been easy, easy, easy. And they did. But she did bring Tammy’s energy and personality to the role as well.

Of note: Costumes and wardrobe aside, the sets for the television shows were exact to the point of nostalgia.

Rating: This film gets an A. Jessica Chastain’s performance gets an A+.
This was an interesting period of time and for those of you who did not live through it, see this film. For those of us who did, it’s a good reminder from where the evangelical world came…