The Eyes of Tammy Faye

I distinctly remember watching the downfall of televangelist Jim Bakker on the nightly news (the footage of him being led away with a jacket over his handcuffs was used every time there was an update to the case) when I was a teenager and I had very strong feelings about the hypocrisy of religious leaders using their platform to profit personally from money donated by believers (I still do).  I was, therefore, very excited to see The Eyes of Tammy Faye and I finally had the chance last night.  I really enjoyed the performances, especially Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye, as well as the production design but I was ultimately quite disappointed by the shallow analysis of the title character.  The movie follows Tammy Faye as a child (played by Chandler Head) in a religious household who is viewed as a sinner because she is a product of a marriage that ended in divorce, as a student (now played by Chastain) at Bible college who becomes enamored with fellow student Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) because of his belief in a prosperity gospel, as an itinerant preacher with her new husband delivering a message with puppets, as the host of a children's TV show for Pat Robertson (Gabriel Olds) and his Christian broadcasting network, as an antagonist to Jerry Fallwell (Vincent D'Onofrio) for her views on religious inclusion, as a host for the Bakker's own PTL (Praise The Lord) network which broadcast their ministry by satellite to millions of viewers 24 hours a day, as the benefactor of a lavish lifestyle with money funneled from the contributions of those viewers, and, finally, as the supposed victim of her husband's wrongdoing.  Chastain gives a brilliant performance which captures all of Tammy Faye's idiosyncratic mannerisms (her nervous giggle is absolutely spot-on) and I was especially impressed that she did her own singing.  I also enjoyed Garfield's performance as the embattled televangelist, particularly when he delivers Bakker's catchphrase, "God loves you. He really does."  This movie also does a fantastic job at recreating the ostentation of the 80s from the sumptuous interiors to the flamboyant costumes.  My biggest issue is with the overly sympathetic depiction of Tammy Faye.  I have a really difficult time believing that she was not complicit in, or at least aware of, the bilking of their viewers for personal gain.  We are meant to believe that she was assertive enough to force her way to Jerry Fallwell's table at a BBQ and to proclaim her views about the responsibilities Christians have to love everyone despite opposition from other powerful religious leaders but that she allowed herself to be a pawn in all of Jim's schemes and knew nothing about the day-to-day operations of PTL.  Also this movie does not shed much light on what actually happened to bring about their downfall.  To be sure, this is Tammy Faye's story and it is told completely from her perspective rather than Jim's but I wish we could have had more details about the scandal.  I did enjoy the movie, and would recommend it, but I didn't learn much about the protagonist beyond what I already knew.