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2021 Films, Andrew Garfield, Biography, Cherry Jones, Drama, Jessica Chastain, Michael Showalter, Vincent D'Onofrio

The Eyes of Tammy Faye-2021

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The Eyes of Tammy Faye-2021

Director Michael Showalter

Starring Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield

Scott’s Review #1,233

Reviewed February 26, 2022

Grade: A-

When thinking of the name Tammy Faye Baker, usually images of outlandish pancake makeup and ridiculous evangelical spewings are conjured up.

Alongside her husband Jim Baker, the duo was prominent and highly visible throughout the 1970s and the 1980s as fixtures of Christian broadcasting.

Naturally, scandals ensued, resulting in prison time for Jim and shame and career ruin for Tammy.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) delves into the thoughts and experiences of Tammy, hence the title. It’s sympathetic material and made me learn much more about the celebrity than I knew.

Other characters, such as husband Jim and sullen evangelists like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, are explored, but Tammy is the main draw.

I love the depiction of Tammy Faye Baker, and hats off to a dynamite performance by Jessica Chastain, especially in the final act. Nearly unrecognizable, the actress unleashes a flurry of brilliant scenes and a depiction of a tacky woman winning over an audience.

It is Chastain’s best role yet.

Tammy’s LGBTQ+ community appreciation and thoughtfulness during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, when very few others, especially in her inner circle, wanted anything to do with them, is compelling and heart-wrenching.

She saw them as human beings when others saw them as lepers. She continued to support the LGBTQ+ community until she died in 2007.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall, and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

The film begins with her humble beginnings in frigid Minnesota and her closeness with her very religious mother, Rachel (Cherry Jones), and her kind stepfather, who accepted her as his own.

An innocent college romance with Jim Baker (Garfield) blossoms into marriage, leading to their rise to success in creating the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. They promote a message of love while skimming from the top to enjoy their lavish lifestyle.

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 and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.

This is the point where the film takes off.

Chastain had me at the very first scene when an extreme close-up of her face, now aging, is featured. Though wacky, she infuses a humanism and kindness into Tammy that immediately made me champion her.

Through trials and tribulations, from nearly cheating on her husband to turning a blind eye to the financial scandals surrounding her, she always keeps her head held high and fills any room she enters with love and sincerity.

The best scene by Chastain is at the end of the film when Tammy makes a triumphant yet humble return to the stage.

As she nervously takes the stage at Oral Roberts University, she imagines a stage filled with glamour and pomp rather than the meek one it is. It helps her get through, and I wanted to give her a big hug.

All the awards attention has gone to Chastain, but Andrew Garfield is nearly as flawless. Complex and struggling with Tammy’s brazen approach, his sexuality, and playing nice with the other major players, he gets his comeuppance, but Garfield makes him sympathetic and a fine study.

Directed by Michael Showalter, I feel he could have gone much darker with this film. Sure, there is some sadness, like when Tammy overhears a bunch of kids whispering that she is a freak or colleagues mocking her as a clown, but it’s a soft touch.

The woman battled cancer for years before dying from it, but the film ends before any of that even happens.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) belongs to Chastain and Garfield. It’s a bit glossy and skates over some hard-punching attributes it could have showcased, but it balances the camp with endearment and champions acceptance and compassion for one another.

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins-Best Actress-Jessica Chastain (won), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (won)

2004 Films, Action, Albert Finney, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Carl Reiner, Casey Affleck, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cherry Jones, Comedy, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, George Clooney, Gregory Jacobs, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Robbie Coltrane, Steven Soderbergh, Topher Grace, Vincent Cassel

Ocean’s Twelve-2004

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Ocean’s Twelve-2004

Director Steven Soderbergh

Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon

Scott’s Review #1,157

Reviewed June 30, 2021

Grade: B-

The casino heist gang is back together again for more action and adventure in a film that was only made because of the success of its predecessor, Ocean’s Eleven (2001).

The uninspiring title of the film, Ocean’s Twelve (2004) is a letdown as compared to the fantastic and enthralling 2001 film.

What felt like a purely original idea, even though it was a remake, now feels like stale bread that was fresh only yesterday.

Thankfully, Steven Soderbergh returns to the fold which adds some style and general good direction.

The story is slow to kick off and provides an implausible and unconventional ending that doesn’t work nearly negating most of the previous activity. There is something a bit irritating about watching a film with the knowledge that it was only made for one reason and the plot seems to be rushed and poorly thought out.

But that’s Hollywood.

Undoubtedly, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and other top talent enjoyed the hefty paychecks they received. This is also perturbing as the performances seem ho-hum and inspired by the big bucks being deposited into big bank accounts for services rendered.

The inauthenticity all around is evident in lazy acting and writing.

The foil and mark, Terry Benedict, once again played by Andy Garcia realizes that the gang has robbed him of millions and demands the money back with interest. Unfortunately, much of it has already been spent.

Unable to come up with the cash, the crew must come together to pull off another series of heists, this time in Europe. Presumably, they are not well known there.

Being “forced” to do what the career criminals love to do is far-fetched.

Danny (George Clooney) and the gang hatch a plan to swap a Fabergé Imperial Coronation Egg for a holographic recreation. Linus (Damon) comes up with a second plan involving Danny’s wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), posing as a pregnant Julia Roberts to get close to the Egg and swap it.

They are foiled by Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a coincidentally present Bruce Willis, and the rest of the group are captured.

While it’s slightly clever having Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts appear as themselves especially when Julia Roberts plays another character in the film, it doesn’t work as well as it sounds on paper.

The story is way too convoluted and Ocean’s Twelve quickly turns into the sort of film you tune out of enjoying the non-story points more than the written word. In this case, that’s not a positive aspect.

The film’s successes, mainly the returning A-list cast, are also negative. While it’s fun to reconnect with familiar characters like Danny Ocean, Rusty (Pitt), and Linus, we know the characters too well and they become caricatures. Meaning, they behave exactly as one would expect them to.

Still, it is admittedly juicy and exciting to witness so many A-listers on one big screen especially when there is trickery, scheming, and just a hint of romance to be had.

I’ll also partake in just about any film that goes on location to Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Amsterdam. It’s an orgy of European history and goodness adding cultural trimmings to a sub-par storyline.

Particularly inviting are the villa scenes in luscious Lake Como.

Ocean’s Twelve (2004) will please only those who are obsessed enough with the franchise to enjoy what is a retread of the 2001 film set in various parts of Europe instead of Las Vegas.

It isn’t nearly enough for me as most cleverness and bright and crisp writing are gone.

2018 Films, Biography, Cherry Jones, Drama, Flea, Joe Alwyn, Joel Edgerton, LGBTQ+ Drama, LGBTQ+ Films, Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe

Boy Erased-2018

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Boy Erased-2018

Director Joel Edgerton

Starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe

Scott’s Review #834

Reviewed November 22, 2018

Grade: A

Before I ventured to the movie theater to view Boy Erased (2018), I heard from more than a few folks who decided not to see the film due to the complicated subject matter.

While parts of the film are challenging and the true story stifling, the overall message is poignant and hopeful. The central character is one to be championed.

In other words, while the subject is serious, director Joel Edgerton (who also co-stars) is careful not to make the overall experience dour or wholly downtrodden.

The setting is rural Arkansas, based on Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir of the same name and taking place as frighteningly recently as 2004.

Our main character is a handsome, popular young man, renamed Jared (Lucas Hedges) for the film.  Interspersed with numerous flashbacks, then back to present times, we see Jared as a high school kid and blossoming as a first-year college student, interested in writing.

He is expected to follow the word of god since his father, Marshall (Russell Crowe), is a respected preacher at their local church, and his mother, Nancy (Nicole Kidman), is a housewife.

Jared’s college experiences are both good and bad. He befriends fellow runner Henry, who ultimately rapes him, and embarks on an enlightening friendship with Xavier, who challenges Jared’s belief in god.

These scenes are preceded by the point of the film, in which Jared admits his thoughts about men to his parents and is sent to a Love In Action gay conversion therapy program. His experiences there are chronicled.

Many scenes involve the treatment the school provides the students (or instead makes the students endure), and Jared’s realization that he is gay and cannot change.

He ultimately questions and challenges the school. The chief therapist, Victor Sykes (Edgerton), teaches that God will not love anyone who is homosexual. In a bit of rich irony, the film reveals that Victor finally denounced his teachings and married a man.

Fellow students’ lives are featured, one suffers a terrible fate as he cannot come to terms with his sexuality, nor can he change.

A comparison to the popular film Love, Simon (2018) is fun to draw.

Both were released during the same year, and both feature a young, popular coming-of-age character who struggles with the repercussions of revealing their sexual preference.

Boy Erased is the heavier of the two, as Love, Simon has many comic elements, but it is worth noting that both are mainstream films garnering large audiences- a win for the LGBT community.

The acting in Boy Erased is flawless and perfectly cast all around.

With Hedges, Kidman, and Crowe in the mix, we know the performances will be outstanding, and all three characters possess their share of empathy.

Jared is the most important character to be concerned about, and Marshall and Nancy are support players. However, the film does not portray either as bad people, which is interesting. They are nurturing towards Jared and want him to be happy.

While Nancy is more instrumental in rescuing Jared, Marshall also comes around in the end, as his son’s sexuality is tougher for him to accept.

The main song used in the film is appropriately named “Revelation” by Troye Sivan. The singer also appears in the film as Gary, a student made to be “cleansed” of his sexuality.  The tune is sentimental, smoky, and acoustic, perfect for the southern setting.

Heartfelt and fraught with meaning, it encompasses Jared’s struggles and strong will to question the school’s motivations, powering through the school’s toxic approach.

As with many recent biographical films telling stories of real-life people, Boy Erased features a young Jared in homemade video clips as the movie begins. This immediately triggers a rooting value for the character as we see the child, cute, happy, and full of life, without a care.

Additionally, the conclusion shows the real adult Jared, Marshall, and Nancy.

Boy Erased (2018) is an important film firmly nestled in a crucial time period for the LGBT community. As LGBT awareness is now commonplace in cinema, this film does not necessarily share a gay character’s “coming out” story but rather depicts a brilliant story of how perilous and repressive being gay can still be for some people.

Jared is the main character who will undoubtedly be a hero to many young people wrestling with their identity.