Review of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, directed by Michael Showalter

I have a confession to make: before watching this movie, which I had no idea existed until I saw it, I also had no idea who Tammy Faye was.

So you’re probably already wondering how I ended up watching this movie, and that’s a good question. I was on a flight to San Diego to visit my relatives, and Delta had this as one of the options at the time. And I have another confession: I didn’t have an interest in the synopsis when I clicked on it, but because I saw that it was starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, I shrugged and decided to give the movie a chance.

And man, I left this movie knowing way more about who Tammy Faye and her husband. It was a wild ride entering this completely blind, and I was sitting next to my religious mother (I am not religious), so when she looked over to ask me a question, she saw a scene with church and thought I had finally been saved.

It bummed her out to realize I was just watching a movie.

I’ve rambled enough already. Let’s get into the review!

The rise and fall of Tammy Faye as a televangelist in the seventies.

We begin this movie with meeting Tamara Faye LaValley, who typically goes by Tammy. She goes to North Central Bible College in Minnesota, which is where she meets Jim Bakker, her future husband. Her mother does not like him at all, and they get married pretty quickly, deciding to drop out of school and become preachers.

Their goal is to inspire the next generation of Christians across the country, but their efforts are quickly noticed by a hotshot: Pat Robertson. His Christian Broadcasting Network is one of the bigger ones in the country, and he wants to hire them.

So they agree to it, and they’re slated to become the hosts of their own children’s show on the network. Not long after that, Jim gets a promotion to host The 700 Club on the network, while Tammy has their first child, a daughter. The next big event in their lives is when they’re at a party, which they meet a fellow conservative pastor named Jerry Falwell, who wants to work with the network too.

There’s some sexist undertones already to what’s going on, as Jim is included more in these conversations instead of Tammy.

However, this leads to an argument between Jerry and Tammy, as she doesn’t believe faith should be politicized. She decides to convince Jim that they should have their own television network so they can maintain control over what they can put out there, and they do just that.

Years pass, and their show becomes more and more popular, while Rachel’s mother voices her suspicion as to where their money is coming from.

The press is thinking about this too, and Tammy is getting more flirty with other men and becomes addicted to pills. Jim wants to build a theme park, but make it Christian, while Tammy becomes increasingly disillusioned with Jerry’s influence and politics.

In an interview, she goes against him and interviews a pastor with AIDS, effectively angering him. When the news breaks a scandal over their finances, this is the beginning of the end, and Jim takes control of the network. He goes to jail for fraud, and the two end up getting a divorce.

In the mid-nineties, Tammy is struggling with getting her career going again. When she takes on a gig speaking at a Christian concert, she gives a big performance that’s strange to watch, but is therapeutic for her. The movie ends with telling us she died in 2007, Jim came back to the industry, and Falwell died the same year as Tammy.

Overall Thoughts

As I mentioned before, I had no idea who any of these people were going into it, and I was really interested in Tammy Faye by the end. Sure, I don’t endorse televangelism in any way what so ever, but it was interesting that she was such a big advocate for LGBTQ+ causes despite her position in the industry.

It’s not often that we get to see that, and while I probably won’t be revisiting this movie unless there’s a weirdly specific reason to do so, I’m glad I watched it. Chastain and Garfield also give excellent performances, which I expected considering I’m big fans of both as actors.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.