The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2021
**½
Director: Michael Showalter
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mark Wystrach, Sam Jaeger, Louis Cancelmi, Gabriel Olds
Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye LaValley meet at a Bible College, drop out, and get married. They preach across the country, but get their big break on the Christian Broadcasting Network. This conventional and somewhat superficial biopic depicts the professional rise and fall of the Bakker empire, but if tends to forget the people behind the heavy, Oscar-winning hair and makeup. In the conservative world of televangelism, Tammy Faye was an unusually open-minded individual, so it is understandable that she gets off lightly in this story. Jessica Chastain's Academy Award-winning performance is big, showy, but finely nuanced. Abe Sylvia's script is based on a 2000 documentary.
