The Eyes of Tammy Faye attempts to re-cast tele-evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker as, among other things, the naive victim of her avaricious husband, a champion of the underdog and a gutsy, heroic survivor. But to achieve this the movie script performs all kinds of magic tricks with the facts. It ignores how Tammy Faye knowingly colluded with Jim Bakker for decades, defrauding their hapless followers of millions and living in the lap of luxury at others' expense. It largely overlooks how she stood doggedly by Jim's side, often crying for the cameras, through a litany of allegations of financial impropriety and sexual misconduct (including rape), abandoning him only when the money dried up and he was no longer going to be a viable meal ticket. It ignores how she then married another criminal, Roe Messner, who was was subsequently convicted and jailed for massive bankruptcy fraud. The woman was a grifter all her life. She was nobody's victim. She didn't "survive" Jim; she simply moved on to her next scam. I get why Jessica Chastain saw Tammy Faye as the role of lifetime: a larger than life character, outlandish costumes and make-up, the drug addiction, the scandal, the fall from grace and the public attempt at redemption. But if you're going to play a clownish villain, then why not go all the way and tell the truth, rather than withhold key facts, soften the edges and pretend Tammy Faye hurt nobody but herself? All of which pretty much makes Jessica Chastain as shameless a huckster as Tammy Faye herself.
Review of The Eyes of Tammy Faye
