An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
- Director
- Writers
- Fenton Bailey(based on the documentary by)
- Randy Barbato(based on the documentary by)
- Abe Sylvia
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Fenton Bailey(based on the documentary by)
- Randy Barbato(based on the documentary by)
- Abe Sylvia
- Stars
- Won 2 Oscars
- 21 wins & 42 nominations total
Videos6
Jay Huguley
- Jimmy Swaggartas Jimmy Swaggart
- (as James Huguley)
- Director
- Writers
- Fenton Bailey(based on the documentary by)
- Randy Barbato(based on the documentary by)
- Abe Sylvia
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall, and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and '80s, Tammy Faye and her husband Jim Bakker,rose from humble beginnings to create the world's largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance, and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn't long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire. —Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Taglines
- Sometimes in life, you have to take your lashes.
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for sexual content and drug abuse
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaParodies and impressions of Tammy Faye Bakker featured her crying with heavily running mascara. Jessica Chastain noted that when researching Tammy Faye, she couldn't find a single image of her with running mascara; Tammy Faye only wore waterproof mascara.
- GoofsWhen their son was born and Tammy admitted to her affair the President was Ford not Reagan. So Jim did not receive a letter from President Reagan at that time.
- Quotes
Rachel Grover: Oh, Tammy Faye. You follow blindly. In the end, all you are is blind.
- Crazy creditsTammy Faye (Jessica Chastain) gives a thumbs up at the end of the closing credits.
- SoundtracksHow Great Thou Art
Written by Carl Gustav Boberg (as Carl Boberg)
Arranged and Performed by Michael Parnell
Top review
A biopic worth going to theaters for!
"Faith isn't political." Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain)
But Faith is in The Eyes of Tammy Faye-not just a biopic full of secular missteps but also smart, sympathetic, light-hearted, poignant, and the best female performance of the year. This is from someone who thought Jennifer Hudson in Respect could not be bested.
As Tammy Faye Bakker, Chastain (also a producer) stakes out the dramatic territory of resembling the star-crossed televangelist and giving a nuanced performance, including commendable singing, that could make you want to see both Tammy and Jessica again in another completely different drama. You could also want to see a less innocent Tammy if you remember her blind eye for her husband's manifold indiscretions and corruptions.
Forget the makeup, which is remarkable by the way, and just enjoy the masterful depiction of an American classic woman-a star rising to the top at a time when television itself was rising in prominence (beaming shows with a satellite was practically a new weapon). She became a star asserting her talent when men tried to refuse her talent, a woman who rebelled against being left alone while her husband, Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield-playing a smarmy wimp) took the glory and money. Also, a woman who had blind faith in God and mammon at the same time.
Director Michael Showalter, clearly sympathetic to Tammy, deftly takes the complicated soul from wide-eyed innocent to a wayward but still naive adult whose increasingly-gaudy makeup paralleled her fall from grace. Tammy and Jim's descent, ending in his going to prison for fraud and her losing her beloved television presence and Heritage USA theme park, is an accurate depiction of pride's and wealth's inevitable toll.
Besides Chastain's memorable performance of a talented woman determined to be more than just a trophy, Eyes is a docudrama chock-full of issues like gay love, male impotence, social repression, and most of all, the morphing of religion into entertainment.
Allied to these sinful markers is the couple's acknowledgement that wealth is ok to be pursued, even if you preach Christian charity. That Tammy and Jim built in the '70's and '80's the largest TV ministry, the PTL Network, would have been a remarkable feat except for the sinful ways they flourished.
As Chastain plays her, Tammy barely knew the shenanigans Jim and his buds, like Jerry Falwell, devised to milk their worshipers for wealth and real-estate empires. The Eyes of Tammy Faye is not just an historical docudrama; it is a fitting chronicle of the misalignment of church and state and the corruptions of success.
Eyes is a messy Greek tragedy of sin and redemption that won't let you take your eyes off it. Especially if you see it on the big screen.
But Faith is in The Eyes of Tammy Faye-not just a biopic full of secular missteps but also smart, sympathetic, light-hearted, poignant, and the best female performance of the year. This is from someone who thought Jennifer Hudson in Respect could not be bested.
As Tammy Faye Bakker, Chastain (also a producer) stakes out the dramatic territory of resembling the star-crossed televangelist and giving a nuanced performance, including commendable singing, that could make you want to see both Tammy and Jessica again in another completely different drama. You could also want to see a less innocent Tammy if you remember her blind eye for her husband's manifold indiscretions and corruptions.
Forget the makeup, which is remarkable by the way, and just enjoy the masterful depiction of an American classic woman-a star rising to the top at a time when television itself was rising in prominence (beaming shows with a satellite was practically a new weapon). She became a star asserting her talent when men tried to refuse her talent, a woman who rebelled against being left alone while her husband, Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield-playing a smarmy wimp) took the glory and money. Also, a woman who had blind faith in God and mammon at the same time.
Director Michael Showalter, clearly sympathetic to Tammy, deftly takes the complicated soul from wide-eyed innocent to a wayward but still naive adult whose increasingly-gaudy makeup paralleled her fall from grace. Tammy and Jim's descent, ending in his going to prison for fraud and her losing her beloved television presence and Heritage USA theme park, is an accurate depiction of pride's and wealth's inevitable toll.
Besides Chastain's memorable performance of a talented woman determined to be more than just a trophy, Eyes is a docudrama chock-full of issues like gay love, male impotence, social repression, and most of all, the morphing of religion into entertainment.
Allied to these sinful markers is the couple's acknowledgement that wealth is ok to be pursued, even if you preach Christian charity. That Tammy and Jim built in the '70's and '80's the largest TV ministry, the PTL Network, would have been a remarkable feat except for the sinful ways they flourished.
As Chastain plays her, Tammy barely knew the shenanigans Jim and his buds, like Jerry Falwell, devised to milk their worshipers for wealth and real-estate empires. The Eyes of Tammy Faye is not just an historical docudrama; it is a fitting chronicle of the misalignment of church and state and the corruptions of success.
Eyes is a messy Greek tragedy of sin and redemption that won't let you take your eyes off it. Especially if you see it on the big screen.
helpful•3116
- jdesando
- Sep 25, 2021
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,404,127
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $652,358
- Sep 19, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $2,676,180
- Runtime2 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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By what name was The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) officially released in Japan in Japanese?
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