Eyes Of Tammy Faye Why The Reviews Are So Mixed (Despite TIFF Award)

Eyes Of Tammy Faye: Why The Reviews Are So Mixed (Despite TIFF Award)

Jessica Chastain shines in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a colorful biopic exploring the life of the televangelist, but the reviews aren’t all positive.



You Are Reading :Eyes Of Tammy Faye Why The Reviews Are So Mixed (Despite TIFF Award)

Eyes Of Tammy Faye Why The Reviews Are So Mixed (Despite TIFF Award)

The Eyes of Tammy Faye hit theaters this past weekend and has drawn a mix of reactions from critics and audiences alike, despite actress Jessica Chastain recently winning the 2021 TIFF Tribute Award for her performance in the lead role. The biopic follows the incomparable rise, fall, and redemption of Christian celebrity Tammy Faye Bakker at various points throughout her life and career, including her marriage to infamous prosperity preacher and alleged sex offender Jim Bakker.

As of this writing, The Eyes of Tammy Faye is holding just above “fresh” status on Rotten Tomatoes with a 66% rating based on 119 reviews. While critical feedback has certainly been less than perfect, Chastain’s dynamic performance as a minor cult of personality turned arguable “gay icon” has dominated much of the discourse surrounding the film. The costume design and makeup process, which took upwards of four hours per day on average and caused Chastain very real damage to her skin, has also been heavily praised by viewers. Take a look at what some of the more positive reviews have to say about the film:

Screen Rant:

“While The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a flattering account of the televangelist, it still manages to show her flaws – humanizing her in the process.”

See also  Game Of Thrones All 8 People Who Know Jon Snow’s Targaryen Secret

National Post:

“Tammy Faye is Jessica Chastain, who has been keen to make this movie for years, and throws herself into the part with a fervour that borders on zealotry. Her performance is, dare I say, a revelation.”



New Yorker:

“[Cherry] Jones is as formidable as ever, and Vincent D’Onofrio gives a sombre and riveting portrayal of Jerry Falwell, the Baptist Savonarola, who doesn’t hesitate to scythe down the Bakkers for their sins. But this is Chastain’s movie, through and through.”

Washington Post:

Perri Nemiroff:

“A fascinating and often heartbreaking exploration of accountability via a collision of passion, fame, fortune and the media with a show-stopping performance from Jessica Chastain at its core.”


Based on reviews, director Michael Showalter was able to pull well-received performances from a cast that includes Andrew Garfield in the role of Jim Bakker, as well as Gabriel Olds as fellow uberwealthy Christian mogul Pat Robertson. Considering her TIFF Award, it comes as no surprise that Chastain’s performance is a standout. Unfortunately, the film’s tone and pacing have not been as glowingly received. The Eyes of Tammy Faye seems to suffer from an identity crisis, not quite knowing if it’s a serious biopic or, at times, a comedic parody of its already ridiculous characters. Here are some of the more negative reviews:

Hollywood Reporter:

“Connoisseurs of performance gimmickry might be drawn to the Searchlight release, with its layers of prosthetic and digital disguise. But anyone requiring a fresh point of view or a reason to care should look elsewhere.”

Rolling Stone:

“It’s all very predictable, down to when and where the montages show up, the end-credits roll call of the real-life figures involved and how the arc winds its way toward a queasy, delusional yet somehow upbeat sense of redemption for our heroine.”

See also  Pokemon GO Best Moveset for Zekrom (July 2021)

Austin Chronicle:

“It is also a shame that The Eyes of Tammy Faye is too timid to critique its subject: her naive chase of glamour, her willingness to be part of a subsect that does more harm than good, and her obliviousness of the scam she took part in.”

IndieWire:

“For better or worse, we’re on Tammy Faye’s side, but the film often embraces the worst bits of a complicated story in order to make Tammy Faye look better. Why not make her look more real, makeup and all?”

While The Eyes of Tammy Faye clearly provides a fascinating cosmetic look at some of America’s most influential Christian celebrities throughout the 1970s and ’80s, the film itself is heavily criticized for not digging deeper into the very real-life consequences and cultural damage caused by its characters. There are times when Tammy Faye is painted as a completely innocent and naive bystander to some of the more heinous goings-on around her, while in other scenes she appears to almost be winking at the camera as if to say, “I’ve been in on the act all along.” Unfortunately, the consensus is that the film often fails to reconcile those two personas into a clear stance of who the titular character truly was.

Based on the reviews currently available on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear The Eyes of Tammy Faye won’t be every moviegoer’s first choice, but for many, there is still plenty to fall in love with. Chastain’s willingness to jump headfirst into a challenging character at the expense of her own body provides an admirably rich depiction of a complicated and often conflicted human being, even if all the pieces around her don’t necessarily always fall into place.

See also  How to Find (& Catch) Chespin in Pokémon GO

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/eyes-tammy-faye-reviews-mixed-reason-rotten-tomatoes/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *