The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Jessica Chastain is outstanding in this intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and return 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. 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.

‘The character of Tammy Faye Bakker is a really, really compelling central character, a kind of misunderstood character who we know in our culture as a kind of a laughing stock and a bit of a villain. I like the opportunity to show that, maybe if you peel layers back, you’ll see her in a different way. I know the story, I know the characters, and I’m interested in stories about good intentions gone horribly wrong. I like the kind of Bonfire Of The Vanities aspect of all of it, the way in which these two people found themselves in this maelstrom of insanity and the way in which its tentacles reached so wide, even right into our current situation.’

Director Michael Showalter, from an interview with The A.V. Club.