HIGHER POWER PLAYER
JESSICA CHASTAIN PUTS IN A HEAVENLY PERFORMANCE AS FAMOUS US TELEVANGELIST
BASED on the award-winning 2000 documentary of the same title, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye dramatises the rise and fall of “the Ken and Barbie of televangelists” through the heavily mascaraed eyes of its easily duped heroine.
Director Michael Showalter and scriptwriter Abe Sylvia offer an exceedingly charitable portrayal of the relentlessly upbeat woman at the centre of an embezzlement scandal, which sank the evangelical Christian PTL TV Network and originally sentenced Tammy’s husband Jim to 45 years in prison on fraud and conspiracy charges.
Tammy Faye Grover (Jessica Chastain) is raised in a blended family of eight children in International Falls, Minnesota by a devout mother (Cherry Jones), who hides her eldest daughter from the congregation to avoid public reminders of her failed first marriage and divorce.
In 1960 at North Central Bible College, Tammy meets Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) and they forego studies to marry and establish a travelling ministry, which leads to a big break on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) under Reverend Pat Robertson (Gabriel Olds).
Jim’s ambition sows the seeds of The PTL (Praise The Lord) Club and he openly woos conservative pastor Jerry Falwell (Vincent D’Onofrio). However, Falwell’s lip-curling rejection of homosexuality troubles Tammy and she defiantly interviews Aids patient Steve Pieters (Randy Havens) on the TV network.
“What you see is all there is of me,” chirrups the luminous Chastain as Tammy in an early scene. It’s a barnstorming, allguns-blazing central performance that fixates on the wife’s overly trusting nature without making cruel fun at the altar of her campness and theatricality.
Chastain doesn’t hold back, whether she is enthusiastically spreading the word of the Lord through Tammy’s handmade Susie Moppet doll, building a successful music recording career or feeding her diet soft drink addiction through a lipstick-smudged straw, before she trades carbonation for prescription medication.
Oscar nominations have been snagged for far less.
Conversely, Garfield feels underpowered as the architect of the couple’s downfall. Depicted as a materialistic social climber, who gaslights and manipulates in pursuit of the gaudy trappings of fame, it’s tough to believe Tammy keeps on her blinkers for so long.
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is a sparkling showcase for Chastain’s multi-layered metamorphosis.
She comes closest to divinity but the rest of Showalter’s sermon is far from heaven, too conventional and narrow in its critical judgment to teach us anything new about the showbusiness of televised ministry.
In cinemas from Friday