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Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's amiable, jaunty Tammy Faye Bakker documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye, portrays the former televangelist, talk-show host, and world-class weeper in a manner as relentlessly surface-fixated as the former Mrs. Bakker's permanent mascara. The film divides its narrative between a commentary-laden recap of Tammy Faye's rise and fall as a pioneer host personality in Christian evangelical television (culminating in the PTL ministry collapse in the late 1980s), and a series of personal travails and manufactured showbiz comeback hoops, a Mr. Bill Show version of the crises facing the protagonist of a 1950s "women's movie." Tammy Faye is seen picking up second husband Roe Messner from prison, pitching ludicrously unwatchable television vehicles to the USA network, and appearing on the Roseanne show. The filmmakers seem determined to depict Tammy Faye as an innocent, at least in the context of the twin shark pools of the religious and entertainment communities in which she has repeatedly tried to gain a foothold. For even the cynical audience member, say someone who believes that holding hands and engaging in on-camera couch talk with Jim J. Bullock is less about innocence than about an overwhelming need to perform, the accumulation of sympathetic detail in The Eyes of Tammy Faye is awesome to behold. Her wide-eyed, trusting nature easily trumps the Paul Crouches and Jerry Falwells the film accuses of varying levels of professional betrayal. Our heroine shines so brightly that one almost doesn't recall the very basic questions the filmmakers avoid asking: Just what are the ethics of living off the phoned-in donations of the faithful, many of whom operate from restricted financial circumstances? Is being the least-savvy shark in a pool of spiritual chum anything to brag about? At what point does a good heart stop being an excuse and start being an indictment?  According to the movies, maybe never. Innocents like Tammy Faye are a popular film lead choice of the micro-moment. Two respected film directors, Neil Labute and Lars Von Trier, debuted films at this year's Cannes festival starring muppet-like actresses | |
