The Eyes of Tammy Faye | |
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Directed by | Michael Showalter |
Screenplay by | Abe Sylvia |
Based on | The Eyes of Tammy Faye by Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Mike Gioulakis |
Edited by | Mary Jo Markey |
Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 126 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $3.8 million [2] |
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a 2021 American biographical drama film directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by Abe Sylvia, based on the 2000 documentary of the same name by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of World of Wonder. The film tells the story of Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain), from her humble beginnings growing up in International Falls, Minnesota, through the rise and fall of her televangelism career and marriage to Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield). Cherry Jones and Vincent D'Onofrio also star. The film is produced by Chastain's production company, Freckle Films.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021, and was released on September 17, 2021, by Searchlight Pictures. Critics praised the performances (particularly Chastain's) while criticizing the screenplay, deeming the film to be inferior to the documentary. At the 94th Academy Awards, the film won Best Actress (for Chastain) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Chastain also won the SAG Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress.
Tammy Faye LaValley falls in love with Jim Bakker while studying at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The two marry despite disapproval from Tammy's mother Rachel, dropping out of college to preach and inspire Christian communities across the United States. Their preaching gets the attention of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, who hires them as hosts of children's show Jim and Tammy. Jim later becomes the first host of CBN's The 700 Club while the two welcome daughter Tammy Sue.
Tammy and Jim meet conservative pastor Jerry Falwell during a party, with Jerry expressing interest in working with CBN. Following an argument with Falwell in which Tammy dismisses the politicization of faith, she encourages Jim to create their own television network. The two leave CBN and establish the PTL Satellite Network, with their flagship show The PTL Club becoming immensely popular over the years. Tammy invites Rachel and stepfather Fred to move in with them at their Tega Cay, South Carolina compound, but Rachel expresses her disapproval of how PTL monetizes the religious faith of its viewers.
As the press becomes more skeptical and critical of the PTL network, Tammy develops an addiction to pills and becomes flirtatious with music producer Gary S. Paxton, whom Jim fires following the birth of their son Jay. In the 1980s, Jim focuses his attention on building a Christian theme park while Falwell's influence over PTL grows. When Falwell decries the "gay cancer", Tammy deliberately arranges for AIDS patient and Christian pastor Steve Pieters to give an interview on The PTL Club about supporting the gay community. [3]
After collapsing during a taping, Tammy argues with Jim over their strained relationship and his subservience to Falwell. Falwell subsequently usurps control of PTL following news scandals about PTL's financial debt and Jim's extramarital affairs, including speculations about sexual relationships with men. Jim is ultimately imprisoned for fraud, and with no one left to protect her, Tammy is left jobless and forced to sell her home and possessions.
By 1994, Tammy and Jim have officially divorced, Rachel has died, and Tammy is struggling to revive her career and find television gigs. She gets an offer to be the special guest for a Christian concert at Oral Roberts University, which she hesitantly accepts. She preaches before performing a moving rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", during which she imagines a rousing gospel choir performing with her.
A textual epilogue reveals Falwell died in 2007, Jim returned to televangelism for a revived PTL after being released from prison, and Tammy continued to support LGBTQ+ communities until she died on July 20, 2007, at her home in Loch Lloyd, near Kansas City, Missouri, after an eleven-year bout with cancer at the age of 65.
It was announced in May 2019 that Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield were cast to star in the film, with Michael Showalter directing. The film was produced through Jessica Chastain's production company, Freckle Films. [4] Chastain detailed in an August 2019 interview she had acquired the rights to Tammy Faye Bakker's life in 2012. [5] In October 2019, Cherry Jones joined the cast of the film. Chastain and Jones had both starred on Broadway in The Heiress , and Chastain was an admirer of Jones' work. [6] In November 2019, Sam Jaeger, Vincent D'Onofrio, Gabriel Olds, Mark Wystrach, Chandler Head, Fredric Lehne and Jay Huguley joined the cast of the film. [7] [8] [9]
Principal photography began in October 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. [10] [11] [12]
Chastain stated in interviews that the makeup for the film took between 4–7 hours in the makeup chair having prosthetics added to her face. Chastain also wore false teeth in certain scenes to match the way Tammy Faye smiled. [13] Chastain performs several songs from Bakker's musical catalog in the film. Tammy Sue Bakker-Chapman, the daughter of Jim and Tammy, performed on the film's soundtrack with a cover of "Don't Give Up (On the Brink of a Miracle)". [14]
The film's soundtrack was released on September 17, 2021, by Hollywood Records. The score for the film by Theodore Shapiro was also released as a separate album. [15] Chastain worked with music producer Dave Cobb to record the soundtrack. [16]
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
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Soundtrack album by | |
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Genre | Soundtrack |
Length | 40:47 |
Label | Hollywood |
Producer |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Don't Give Up (On the Brink of a Miracle)" | Mike Adkins | Tammy Sue Bakker-Chapman | 3:58 |
2. | "Battle Hymn of the Republic" | William Steffe, Julia Ward Howe | Jessica Chastain | 3:43 |
3. | "Jesus Keeps Takin' Me Higher & Higher" | Gary S. Paxton | Jessica Chastain | 3:25 |
4. | "The Sun Will Shine Again" | Mike Murdock | Jessica Chastain | 5:20 |
5. | "Somebody Touched Me" | Savana C. Foust | Jessica Chastain ft. Mark Wystrach | 4:31 |
6. | "We are Blest" | Margaret Pleasant Douroux | Jessica Chastain | 6:21 |
7. | "Don't Give Up (On the Brink of a Miracle)" | Mike Adkins | Jessica Chastain | 4:00 |
8. | "The Eyes of Tammy Faye Score Suite" | Theodore Shapiro | Theodore Shapiro | 7:42 |
9. | "Puppet Medley (Give a Hug, Jesus Loves Me, Up with a Giggle)" | Heidi Webster, Anna Bartlett Warner, William Batchelder Bradbury, Danny O'Flaherty | Jessica Chastain | 1:46 |
Total length: | 40:47 |
The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021, and was also an official selection at several other film festivals including 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Sedona Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival. [17] [18] The film was released on September 17, 2021, after an initial release date of September 24. [19] [20] The film hosted a pink-carpet premiere in New York City on September 14, 2021, at the SVA Theatre. [21]
The film was released on Blu-ray on November 16, 2021. [22] The film was later made available to stream on HBO Max in February 2022 in the US. [23]
The Eyes of Tammy Faye debuted in 450 theaters and grossed $675,000 in its opening weekend (an average of $1,500 per venue). Deadline Hollywood wrote that outside of Los Angeles, New York City, and Austin, Texas the grosses "weren't good", and an indication that "older arthouse crowds are [not] back" to theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [24]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 68% of 244 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Eyes of Tammy Faye might have focused more sharply on its subject's story, but Jessica Chastain's starring performance makes it hard to look away." [25] Metacritic assigned the film an average weighted score of 55 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [24]
Despite the mixed reviews for the film, Jessica Chastain ended up winning the Academy Award, along with a SAG and Critics Choice Awards for Best Actress.
James Orsen Bakker is an American televangelist and convicted felon. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program The PTL Club and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with his then wife, Tammy Faye. He also developed Heritage USA, a now-defunct Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Tamara Faye Messner was an American evangelist. She co-founded the televangelist program The PTL Club with her husband Jim Bakker in 1974. They had hosted their own puppet-show series for local programming in the early 1960s; Messner also had a career as a recording artist. In 1978, she and Bakker built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park.
Ronald Roe Messner is an American building contractor who has built more than 1,700 churches, including several megachurches.
Heritage USA was an American Christian-themed water park, theme park and residential complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, built by televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye Bakker, founders of The PTL Club.
Jessica Hahn is an American model and actress. She frequently appeared on The Howard Stern Show throughout the late 1980s and into the 2000s.
The PTL Club, also known as The Jim and Tammy Show, was a Christian television program that was first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, running from 1974 to 1989. The program was later known as PTL Today and as Heritage Today. During its final years, The PTL Club, which adopted a talk show format, was the flagship television program of the Bakkers' PTL Satellite Network.
Fall from Grace is an American television film about the lives of Jim Bakker and his then-wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, during the 1980s, starring Kevin Spacey and Bernadette Peters in the lead roles. The film, which depicts the events that led to the PTL scandal and the Bakkers' subsequent downfall, aired on NBC on April 29, 1990, as well as during occasional reruns in later years on the Lifetime Movie Network.
Jessica Michelle Chastain is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.
The PTL Television Network, often referred to as simply PTL, is an American evangelical Christian television network originally located in Fort Mill, South Carolina, founded by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in 1974 and dedicated in April 1977. During PTL's fourteen-year history, the Bakkers, as hosts of the network's flagship talk show, The PTL Club, became two of the most recognizable and highly-rated televangelists in the U.S. However, PTL collapsed in 1987 after a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn, accused the evangelist of rape, while later financial scandals revealed that the couple had used the nonprofit PTL's donations to fund an opulent personal lifestyle. Bakker went to prison for embezzlement in 1989.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a 2000 American documentary film about the life of Tammy Faye Bakker. Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, produced by their company World of Wonder, it is narrated by RuPaul Charles.
John Wesley Fletcher was an American defrocked Assemblies of God pastor, known for his role in the PTL scandal involving Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker.
Freckle Films is an American film and television production company. It was founded by Jessica Chastain in 2016. The company's projects include the biopics The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) and George & Tammy (2022), both starring Chastain.
Scenes from a Marriage is an American drama television miniseries developed, written and directed by Hagai Levi produced for HBO, and starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. It is an English-language remake of the 1973 Swedish miniseries of the same name by Ingmar Bergman. It was presented at the 2021 Venice Film Festival and it premiered on September 12, 2021, on HBO. For his performance, Isaac was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, with Chastain also earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Film.
George & Tammy is an American biographical drama miniseries created by Abe Sylvia and directed by John Hillcoat, which premiered on Paramount Network, Showtime and CMT on December 4, 2022, with Showtime as its primary network. It stars Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon as country musicians Tammy Wynette and George Jones, chronicling their tumultuous relationship and intertwined careers.
Justin Raleigh is an American make-up artist. He is best known for his work on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Aquaman, Army of the Dead, Impeachment: American Crime Story, American Horror Story: Freak Show and Westworld.
Linda Dowds is a Canadian-British make-up artist. She is best known for her work on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, True Detective, The Kennedys and Grey Gardens.
Stephanie Ingram is a Canadian make-up artist. She won an Academy Award in the category Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the film The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Tammy Faye is a biographic stage musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Jake Shears and a book by James Graham, based on the life of Tammy Faye Messner.