The Eyes Of Tammy Faye Movie Review: It’s a Jessica Chastain show all the way in an uneven film

Story: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ deals with the controversial lives of televangelist couple Tammy Faye Bakker and Jim Bakker. The film shows their mercurial rise from humble beginnings and their subsequent fall. Review: If one were to dig more into the lives of the Bakkers one would discover that in the United States, their home country, more than evangelists they were considered as caricatures. This was especially true for Tammy Faye Bakker with her unusual makeup. ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ puts in an effort to change this perception through an honest account of the couple and thus providing them the sort of dignity they deserved, and it succeeds too. This biographical drama is a watchable affair thanks to some smashing performances by Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, otherwise, it keeps wandering here and there with an excess of religious overtones. The film is about the astronomical rise and fall of televangelist couple Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker and how they created a multi-million empire by swindling money in the garb of a satellite channel. The Bakkers were game-changers in the business who made religion a showbiz tool on television and in the process amassed property worth millions. The story begins in 1952 in Minnesota where Tammy’s mother Rachel plays piano at the local church. In the wake of her divorce, she has barred her daughter Tammy from visiting the church lest people start discussing her divorce. When Tammy meets Jim at a Minneapolis Bible college, it's love at first sight and things change thereafter. Director Michael Showalter has tracked the journey of Tammy and Jim in a linear fashion and manages to keep you engaged throughout and full credit goes to Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield for bringing out an extremely realistic portrayal of the couple. Together they look smashing on the screen. There is a clear demarcation between scenes when they feature in front of the camera and the ones where they don’t feature in front of the camera. The scenes are as distinct as chalk and cheese and this is also the hallmark of great actors. With crude makeup and distinct dialogue delivery, Jessica Chastain successfully gets into the skin of the character and Andrew Garfield as the husband and mastermind of the game plan is not far behind. He is extremely lovable as the pastor with his affable manners but inside the corridors of his house, he is a different man. Special mention should also be made about Cherry Jones (Rachel, Tammy’s mother) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Jerry Falwell) who are excellent in supporting roles. The sequences dealing with the phase when Tammy and Jim fall in love and their subsequent marriage have turned out pretty endearing. Prior to this film, director Michael Showalter had received universal praise for his film ‘The Big Sick’, and this time he goes a step further – more daunting and daring by picking a mundane subject and giving it a twist. He has based the plot of his film on a documentary and succeeds in his endeavor but it’s the patchy screenplay at a few places which robs you of complete joy. The film lacks heightened dramatic moments and it has virtually none. A film tracking the rise and fall of a powerful couple surely requires a few. But minor hiccups apart, this drama makes a worthwhile watch. Jessica Chastain is back in the award circuit with this film after a long hiatus and one can only say – Welcome Jessica! If nothing else, watch this film solely for Jessica and Andrew’s performance.