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| Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures |
The true story of the seismic rise and
downfall of still controversial 80s televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye
Bakker is one so full of such outlandish juicy tabloid scandal that it was
bound to inspire a film dramatization or two at various points over the years. In 1990, an NBC network TV film entitled Fall
from Grace starring Kevin Spacey and Bernadette Peters aired to mixed
reviews but received Emmy nominations for Best Makeup, the irony of now
disgraced actor Spacey playing a disgraced televangelist being hard to overlook.
Around the year 2000, eventual Party
Monster documentary filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato gave the
saga a full top-to-bottom overview with their documentary film The Eyes of Tammy
Faye. A few years after Party
Monster came out, a dramatized feature film loosely based on the documentary
film of the same name starring Macauley Culkin opened to reviews mixed on the
depiction of the facts yet heaped effusive praise upon the actor’s central
performance.
In a curious turn of events still
involving Bailey and Barbato on some level, history has repeated itself with comedy
director Michael Showalter’s dramatized tragicomic feature film loosely based
on the documentary film of the same name The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Not unlike Party Monster, the reception
has been mixed on the treatment of the facts but showering accolades upon the
actors and in particular Jessica Chastain who has undergone what is
unquestionably the most chameleonic top to bottom transformation of an actress
into a whole other character since Charlize Theron’s still astonishing Oscar
winning turn in Monster.
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| Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures |
Circling back to the 1970s predating
the scandals to come, we find Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain) from childhood interest
in religion landing her in the eyes and eventually the arms of the soon-to-be Godfather
of televangelism: Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield).
Bumping shoulders with Reverend Jerry Falwell (Vincent D’Onofrio) on
their ascent to fame and fortune as they formulate the PTL Club television
program and Heritage USA Christian theme park, the film tracks the couple’s
rise and inevitable fall with a certain measure of sympathy for Tammy Faye’s
earnestness while casting aspersion on Jim Bakker’s misconduct, fraud and
eventual imprisonment.
Partially a biopic as sardonic and
occasionally musical comedy as well as a paean to the virtues (and vices) of
blind faith, The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a consistently entertaining and
fascinating portrait of an integral figure in the televangelism saga who (in
the film’s eyes) somehow danced with the devil and emerged with her dignity
intact. Some will argue the film is too
light on Tammy Faye as to how much she did or didn’t know about her husband’s
practices but what no one will dispute is the passion filled (and makeup heavy)
performances from the film’s two leading stars.
Visually speaking the film is
splendidly shot by It Follows and Under the Silver Lake cinematographer
Michael Gioulakis who utilizes a variety of formats from film to videotape to recreate
many of those iconic television broadcasts.
The score by Theodore Shapiro, ordinarily known for comedies save for
occasional dramatic biopics such as Trumbo, is serviceable though scenes
of Chastain singing the songs of Tammy Faye tend to soar.
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| Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures |
Production and costume design is solid
though special attention goes to the makeup department who are tasked with
transforming the strikingly beautiful Chastain into the aged, worn and
overdressed buried-in-makeup Tammy Faye.
Word on the street has it that Chastain suffered literally for her art,
enduring skin damage from the frightening levels of makeup frequently worn by
the film’s protagonist and makes one wonder whether or not the infamous story
about Buddy Ebsen falling ill to the makeup for the Tin Man on The Wizard of
Oz remains an ongoing industry problem.
Andrew Garfield who looks and sounds
uncannily like the real Jim Bakker is sure to get an Oscar nomination who at
times, like the character himself, dominates the screen as a domineering and
scheming character our film’s heroine believed in with unfettered earnest. Jessica Chastain undergoes what appears to be
a physical ordeal of makeup to make who to many was a freakish cartoon
caricature into a real flesh and blood human being.
Having seen Chastain in Terrence Malick
and Christopher Nolan films over the years, her appearance here comes as a
complete shock and is a testament to the transformative power of acting with
the help of makeup and costuming. If
Chastain doesn’t walk away with what to everyone seems like a surefire Oscar
win, the Academy is broken. It’s an
astonishing performance no one saw coming and firmly cements Chastain into the
pantheon of the great actresses of the new millennia.
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| Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures |
Though some will beg the question why
Bailey and Barbato’s masterful documentary treatment of the subject needed the
Hollywood take, comedian turned filmmaker Michael Showalter’s sympathetic and
otherwise highly entertaining adaptation of the story is one of the year’s more
refreshing biopics that leaves ample room for comedy and drama. Mostly though the film is an arena for
powerhouse performances from Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield who are
easily two of the greatest young actors working today.
--Andrew Kotwicki
