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Eyes of Tammy Faye, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 1 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Directed by:
Fenton Bailey
Randy Barbato
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 21, 2000
DVD: January 30, 2001
Running Time: 79 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / UK
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content
Starring Tammy Faye Bakker, Roe Messner, Jim Bakker, and Jamie Bakker
A documentary about the life and times of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker Messner.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Inside Deep Throat Party Monster
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
A hilarious, sad and sometimes-inspiring documentary directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the film is an all-out Tammy valentine -- campy, dramatic and, of course, makeup-smeared. And better than any melodrama you'll see this year.
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Does the movie, with its sock-puppet intros and narration by RuPaul Charles, mock Tammy Faye, sanctify her, or turn her into a flamboyant image of distressed womanly martyrdom -- the Judy Garland of televangelism? All of the above.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
A hilarious, poignant, lovingly ironic celebration of (Tammy Faye Bakker's) rise and fall and her refusal to be broken.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
It's a testimony to the integrity and poignancy of Tammy Faye herself that she comes off as a cool, even complex, woman.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
It's a testimony to Tammy Faye's own integrity and enormous charisma that the film holds our attention as tightly as it does, and doesn't become an insufferable exercise in weak filmmaking.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
If The Eyes of Tammy Faye is skimpy, it's still an important correction to the record about this fascinating and misunderstood woman, who turns out to be much more than just her makeup.
Chicago Tribune John Petrakis
If the mark of a successful documentary is its ability to make us examine a tired subject in a fresh way, then Eyes is a rip-roaring success.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
All in all, she comes off as quite a complex creature.
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
It's a tale of survival and kitsch that will win you over.
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Demonstrates, if nothing else, that there's a genuine person -- chastened by mistakes and more compassionate, perhaps, for all she's suffered -- beneath the war paint and the stardust.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
A lively and affectionate cross between an infomercial and a genuflection.
USA Today Mike Clark
A largely irresistible puff piece.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
She is also, we sense, a woman of great generosity of spirit, and a TV natural: The star she most reminds me of is Lucille Ball.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Only the most hardhearted would fail to be swayed by Messner's surprising strength, and -- dare I say it -- irresistible charm.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
It's highly entertaining, even if it's almost entirely one-sided.
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Whatever the complicated truth about PTL, Tammy Faye's homespun charisma is undeniable; if only the Lord would give her the strength to say, "Get thee behind me, false eyelashes!"
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Maybe this documentary is a bit too enthralled by her, but she emerges from it a game girl, a gay activist and a curiously sympathetic figure.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
(To be) thoroughly enjoyed as a privileged look at one of the loopiest of late 20th century lives.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Eyes sees what it wants to see, but it's a riveting glimpse.
The New York Times A.O. Scott
It's more of a mash note than a formal documentary, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Susannah Breslin
As a whole, The Eyes of Tammy Faye funnily and lively serves to show that sometimes the best movie characters are real ones and sometimes the best Christians are ones who look like crack-whores.
San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
A runny intimate portrait that doesn't trust Tammy Faye Messner and her story to enthrall you. So they've all but spelled it out: k-i-t-s-c-h.
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
But even if the film is short on analysis and skepticism, Tammy makes for a fascinating subject anyway.
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This made-for-cable opus, halfway between documentary and docudrama, is willing to try anything and everything except for a consistent relationship to its material.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
By letting her babble on and become a somewhat risible figure, the filmmakers display a somewhat mean-spirited attitude, despite all their fuss about finally appreciating this put-upon survivor.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Cannot help but be merely another debacle that Tammy Faye will survive, eyelashes and integrity intact.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Petey A. gave it an8:
I rented this on Netflix expecting very little but was pleasantly surprised. I don't think it's for everyone...I think it definitely has a "gay" appeal, though I don't know if I can exactly articulate why (other than RuPaul's narration and a cameo by Jim J. Bullock!). I did appreciate that the filmmakers did not come to "bury" televangelism and the only person really vilified in the movie is Jerry Falwell and not Christians in general. And the old footage of Tammy singing and her sock puppetry is a hoot!
