The Eyes of Tammy Faye reviews

[flipp525]

That’s so awesome, Tee! That part of the movie is when I decided that Jessica would win the Oscar when I saw this at a preview screening last September. It’s a really strong scene and just so, so humane.

[Mister Tee]

I mentioned, when I wrote about the film, that I knew Steve Pieters, the AIDS activist with whom Tammy Faye did the gripping TV interview. Steve is, happily, still with us, and he was Chastain's guest at the nominees' luncheon yesterday. His Facebook page is brimming with photos from the event, about which he was totally over the moon.

[Big Magilla]

You didn't miss it. It wasn't in the film.

I had to look up the name. He was the church builder played by Sam Jaeger. He provided "photos and additional footage" for the 2010 documentary on her. Interestingly, he remarried a little over four months after her death in 2007. He's 86 years old.

[dws1982]

Okay, so I did have a distraction or two and may have missed it, but did this movie literally never mention the fact that Tammy Faye spent the last decade-plus of her life married to Roe Messner, who is a character in this movie and who even shares a one-on-one scene with Tammy Faye? I assumed that scene was setting up groundwork for their future relationship. (Messner even spent his own time in prison for fraud, btw.)

I have some very big problems with the movie but Chastain and Garfield are both very strong.

[mlrg]

Is she good?

Yes, as is the whole mini series. Both she and Oscar Isaac are very very good. The chemistry between them is hard to match.

[Sabin]

mlrg wrote
Have you seen Scenes from a Marriage?

Sigh… no, and I really don’t want to. Although I’d be willing to amend my statement to say that Chastain should be kept away from playing the “Strong Female Lead” trope/ girlbosses (Zero Dark Thirty, Miss Sloane, Molly’s Game).

Is she good?

[mlrg]

Keep her away from dramas. She's born to play weirdos.

Have you seen Scenes from a Marriage?

[Sabin]

I've never run more hot and cold on an actor in my life than Jessica Chastain but with The Eyes of Tammy Faye I think I have her figured out. She is made to play larger than life figures. I think she's at home in comedy. She was excellent in The Help. I have fonder memories of that film than most because I was dreading that film and her storyline with Octavia Spencer was an unexpected and welcome lifeline. And she's great here. Keep her away from dramas. She's born to play weirdos. I have no idea if Jessica Chastain gets nominated. This film didn't do well at the box office (and I doubt in non-COVID times it would've done better) and feels like it's been a bit forgotten, but Chastain should be nominated and honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to a win either.

The film is entertaining but unfocused. It doesn't really have anything too incisive to say about this world, but I still found it a bit better than its reputation. It has a docudrama/everything-and-the-kitchen-sink quality that we see a lot these days but it has a very effective through-line in how Tammy Faye's marriage becomes a total nightmare. All she knows is she believes in her husband and wants to support him. How is she supposed to know she's placing faith in someone who doesn't deserve it? It's not just Tammy. The film wisely makes the choice to portray Jim Bakker as totally in over his head and basically fucked early on. Andrew Garfield is a bit of a mixed bag in this film, but the way the film views him is very successful: never quite in full view, almost just catching glimpses of him. I can't imagine this is a totally accurate portrayal of these two people, but I really like how they always seem like kids who got together too young and The PTL Club plays like a metaphor for their fucked up marriage. The film's a great argument for playing the field.

I wish it stuck the landing in the final stretch beyond a remarkable showcase for Jessica Chastain. The subject matter is certainly strong enough to make a statement about the marriage between capitalism and religion, but it never quite goes there. When Tammy returns to sing at the church, I felt nothing because I was already far beyond her story as an individual and more invested in what it represents.

One more quick thing: the film makes a curious choice to treat Tammy Faye's love for everyone as an annoyance to Jim Bakker and those around him. She just matter-of-fact-ly believes everyone is deserving of love and refuses to censor herself. This is a hilarious idea. She's essentially "The Annoying Eccentric" who causes conflicts wherever she goes but eventually her husband realizes that she's not simply an annoying eccentric. Her faith is so pure that she's capable of roping people in and that's beneficial to him. There's a slight Rain Man arc going on here. I wish this film explored this dynamic a bit more because it's a hilarious idea presenting someone who's faith both annoys and bamboozles the faithful, and she has no idea because, well... she's just a good person.

[Big Magilla]

The film is a standard by-the-numbers Hollywood bio - no better or worse than Respect or a dozen others, but Jessica Chastain is simply terrific. Andrew Garfield is surprisingly quite good as Jim Bakker and Cherry Jones as Tammy Faye's mother finally has a film role that can stand alongside her vaunted theater and TV work.

I don't see Chastain as an Oscar winner for this, but a nominee alongside Kristen Stewart in Spencer, Nicole Kidman in Being the Ricardos, Penelope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, and Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter seems like a strong bet.

[Mister Tee]

Another in the line of movies allowing me to relive news stories from my more youthful days.

I wasn't with it at first -- at one point (during the flirtation with Nashville Gary), I found myself thinking something was just a little off about the film; that the scenes weren't bad, but they weren't ringing completely true. I can't say I ever completely lost that vague sense, but the dramatic developments of the second hour grabbed me enough that I was carried along.

There's a solid performance by Vincent D'Onofrio as Jerry Falwell, and Andrew Garfield does okay, but the movie is mostly about Jessica Chastain. It's clearly a transformational performance and bound to get attention on that basis, but don't let that put you off. Yes, you're going to think "I'd never recognize the lady from Zero Dark Thirty", but, honestly, it's more like she's not recognizable as any other human you've ever met -- which was pretty much my memory of Tammy Faye from the headline days. Flipp is right to highlight the last chunk of the performance...she does so much in this part of the film, just taking further and further steps toward grotesquerie without ever becoming simply a clown. I think it's such a powerful piece of acting, in such obvious ways, that it's hard to see how she misses an Oscar nomination, despite the box-office shortfall. (It's going to be just as hard to judge Oscar potential by box office this year as it was last -- since the older audience, likely the film's target, remains most resistant to going to theatres. My lady friend and I were among about 6 people at the late afternoon showing -- but, truly, the whole multiplex seemed deserted.)

The scene with the AIDS patient who appears on Tammy Faye’s program is Chastain’s strongest work in the film. The empathy and the humanity were just so in abundance, I felt like I wasn’t even watching a performance at that point. Chastain completely embodied her.

This was a weird scene for me to watch because I've known Steve Pieters for close to 50 years. I couldn't call him a close friend, but we studied together under an acting teacher in PA back in the 70s, and I had lunch with him and another friend shortly before the pandemic. It's VERY strange to see a piece of your life be part of a film.

[flipp525]

Wow. Really impressed. The movie loses focus here and there and tries to ram in too much. But Jessica Chastain (and Cherry Jones, to her constant credit throughout the film) both hit it out of the ballpark. Chastain’s last twenty minutes in the film will guarantee an Oscar nomination this year.

The scene with the AIDS patient who appears on Tammy Faye’s program is Chastain’s strongest work in the film. The empathy and the humanity were just so in abundance, I felt like I wasn’t even watching a performance at that point. Chastain completely embodied her.

[Sabin]

I saw some red flags with that trailer. Mediocre makeup. Andrew Garfield looked totally unconvincing.

Owen Gleiberman likes it quite a bit.
https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/t ... 235062011/

[Mister Tee]

Mixed on the film; Chastain in apparently very BIG mode, but good, which could spell nomination.

https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/t ... 235062011/

Hollywood Reporter hates it.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235011598/