Well, they caught our eyes.
The first trailer for the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye has arrived, bringing with it our first look at Oscar-nominee Jessica Chastain as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker opposite fellow nominee Andrew Garfield as her fellow evangelist and sometime husband, Jim Bakker.
Related: This Oscar-nominee has been cast to play Tammy Faye Bakker in new biopic
In the 1970s, the Bakkers rose to fame for their campy brand of Christianity, integrating puppets and musical numbers into their evangelism. By 1978, the pair had parlayed their popularity into a “Christian news” program called The PTL Club as well as launched their own Christian theme park, Heritage USA. Amid that success, Bakker earned wide praise as a gay icon, both for her preaching to welcome LGBTQ people to the church without judgment, and for her work as one of the first celebrity AIDS activists. The Bakker’s empire collapsed in 1987 after the revelation of financial improprieties within their ministry, and after Jim Bakker was revealed to have had an affair with a church secretary, Jessica Hahn. He also paid her hundreds of thousands of dollars of hush money from PTL accounts.
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In addition to Chastain and Garfield, Cherry Jones and Vincent D’Onofrio also appear in the film directed by Michael Showalter (Search Party, Wet Hot American Summer). The Eyes of Tammy Faye hits theaters September 17.
Donston
I had some questions about the casting. And the trailer doesn’t make me more assured. Still could be decent Oscar bait though.
lykeitiz
I also had questions about the casting, however the trailer DOES make me more assured, with both of them.
Donston
Both actors come off like themselves but with slight accents. And I didn’t find the prosthetics convincing. But like most movies, it will mostly come down to the writing and directing.
G-Man
Hasn’t this been done already why the remake?
XannaDont
The previous film was a documentary–a pretty good one. There’s also a 1990 TV movie, Fall From Grace, with Bernadette Peters.
chris_clb614
Well, I’m seeing this, all the proselytizing, political or otherwise, notwithstanding. And it’s a shame that Jim, the con artist, is still alive. Evidence that a “hands off” God exists- if He does exist.
johnnymcmxxx
Apparently the makeup people didn’t bother to simply look @ photos of Tammy-Faye’s makeup. Or didn’t Jessica Chastain want to look clownish? We don’t yet know if the movie & performances are any good but the makeup, Tammy’s singularly significant makeup, is central to who she was.
Chrisk
Jim Baker is still around conning the loons into giving him buckets of $. Jerry Fallwell Jr has been proven a a liar who gives expensive bribes to hunks for sex.
Yeah, this film is still very relevant.
gaypalmsprings
I loved seeing Tammy Faye doing a comedy routine with Leslie Jordan in Palm Springs back in the early 2000s. She was a fiesty, funny, and wildly crazy comedian and singer. The best part was seeing her doing a comedy routine in a bed with Leslie Jordan on the stage. Her flaws aside, she was a true friend to the LGBTQ community.
Joshooeerr
This looks to be infinitely more sympathetic than a grifter like Tammy Faye deserves. I’ll give it a miss.
sebastianreign
Glad I scrolled to the end to find one sane comment. I’m ready to give my gay card back and slam the closet shut again after all the Tammy Faye sympathizers and apologists on here. My husband might have something to say about that though.
Tammy was not dumb to the crimes that were going on, she was happy to swindle the rubes so she could live like a queen. Only good that came from tammy was the comedy routine it gave to the amazing and talented Jan Hooks! God I miss her and Phil Hartman.