Film Review
Tessa Kennedy (she/her)
Hello! My name is Tessa Kennedy, and I am the head of the Violet Magazine film review. Each month, I will watch a recently released film and provide a brief synopsis (no spoilers, of course) and critique it, and say whether I recommend it or not. If you have any recommendations or requests, please email thevioletmagazine27@gmail.com with the subject line “Film Column.”
The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Movie Review
Hard to hate the Bakkers. They are believably shown as people with great intentions and a lot of love, but a blindness that led them to go against the morals that made them who they are. Take a shot everytime someone uses God as an excuse for unethical behavior and you’ll promptly collapse from alcohol poisoning. However, the Bakkers (at least how they’re shown in this film) are not evil people. They are misguided and make bad decisions, but prove themselves as having a mostly not broken moral compass. Real-life story aside, the film is acted and directed with craft, with Andrew Garfield and an at-times unrecognizable Jessica Chastain putting on excellent performances, as well as purposeful directing with a great color palette that reflects the vintage feel as the film moves through the decades. It’s an excellent look at televangelism and the capitalization of religion, advanced by the surge in household televisions around the midcentury. With a two-hour running time, it’s a bit long, with possibly too many hand-wringing conversations about sins and the Lord, but it still is able to capture decades of life and scandal with detail and nuance. If you need further evidence that hyper-religious people are strange, give it a watch. It’s a solid movie, bringing Jessica Chastian to the Best Actress Oscar nomination without a doubt.
This is the Goodie Bag section of the Violet Magazine film column, where I rapid-fire review and recommend a collection of films, whether from five years ago to fifty years ago, all under a certain motif, usually correlating to the magazine’s theme of the month.
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The theme for the debut edition of The Violet Magazine is the Roaring 20s, so for this month’s Goodie Bag film review we’ll be looking at films that are set in the 1920s.
It’s fun to romanticize, and a lot of films taking place in the 1920s sure do that. Flapper dresses! Champagne cocktails! Jazz! Record-breaking poverty! Despite the political and economic volaThis month, I watched the recently released film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a Michael Showalter project starring Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain. This movie revolves around the true story of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, a husband-wife team who spent the second half of the 20th century building a religious broadcast empire. This biopic recalls the old adage: “Behind every rich, famous, rather corrupt Christain man is a perky, camera-happy, surprisingly sharp and occasionally unfaithful wife.” The story of Tim and Tammy Faye Bakker is a fascinating one, showing the power of religion, TV, money, and fame. We are introduced to the young and innocent Tammy Faye, a docile girl desperate to feel the same connection to a higher power like her neighborhood churchgoers. Soon, she finds herself studying the Good Book in college, where she meets the good-boy Christan Tim Bakker. They become smitten quickly, eagerly finishing each others’ Bible verses, as young lovers do. Of course, no sex is allowed before marriage, so they quickly tie the knot; Tammy brings Jim home to her foreboding, affection-witholding mother and sweet-seeming father. This is where the main plot kicks off: they announce that they are becoming traveling preachers, spreading the word of the Lord far and wide; Jim delivering sermons and Tammy bringing charm and appeal to the youngsters. Tammy becomes known for her homemade, shrill-voiced puppets that remind the kiddos of the Lord’s love. Soon after some months of touring with practically no money, they are brought onto a religious network to do their little skits, and the silver screen rockets them into popularity. For a while, it’s easy to have some respect for the Bakkers – look at those Christans and their sock puppets go! The couple seems especially friendly, and are portrayed to have a lovely sense of empathy and hospitality. Unfortunately, all their charity and generosity turned swiftly into blatant money-grabbing. Improper spending led to debt, which led to the Bakkers plastering on smiles and asking their viewers to double their monthly cash pledges, with God’s gratitude as an incentive. Their network tailspins into court battles and slander, their reputation is tarnished, and the film ends with Tammy Faye doing one last performance to an audience deader than Rush Limbaugh, showing she has been given the proverbial cold shoulder from her Christan fellows.
Maybe it’s just the charm of both Chastain and Garfield, but this film makes it tility of the time, the 1920s was a new era of cultural development, so it makes sense that a lot of modern age films are set in this both historically-groundbreaking and aesthetically-pleasing decade. In honor of the Violet Magazine’s debut theme, let’s get in our time machine and look back at some swell movies from the Jazz Age. One great 1920s-set film that you may not have seen is Midnight in Paris, an absolutely lovely film starring the ever-charming Owen Wilson as a screenwriter who is transported to 1920s Paris every midnight, and Rachel McAdams, who excels at playing his hostile fiancée. The film is sweet and whimsical; a story of a writer being able to meet his long-dead inspirations and get the spark he needs. I highly recommend it. There’s also the 1959 film Some Like it Hot, a witty classic with a Shakespeare-esque cross-dressing plot, a run from the mob, and Marylin Monroe in all her glory. Essentially, all the elements necessary for a 1950s buddy movie, pulled off surprisingly well. Great bonus: It holds up rather okay for a movie made about sixty years ago, with an appealing absence of racist slurs and blatant homophobia. I suggest this film as a compromise when trying to decide what to watch as a family, because it can engage a variety of ages. Here’s one more rewatch with a Roaring Twenties setting: The Princess and the Frog. A not-so-fun fact: this 2009 kids movie was the first time since 1946 that African-American characters were found in a Disney feature. Better late than never again, I suppose, but still disappointing. Thankfully, this movie is one of Disney’s best, with humor, magic, and a beautiful sense of comfort. The World War I era set film is a more modern take on the classic fairy tale, with enchanting characters and fantastic plot and animation. Tiana, the Princess Frog, is a great highlight of a princess who can also have (if you can believe it…) goals and personal aspirations! She’s a hard worker with a dream and easily one of the most likable Disney princesses. The supporting characters are equally strong, with layered backstories and wants and needs. Tiana’s best friend, Charlotte, is a refreshing revamp of the spoiled rich blonde archetype, showing a beautiful female friendship filled with selflessness and support, a rare treat. I do realize I have just spent several sentences salivating over a kid’s film, but it is truly a gem, one to watch over and over throughout the years. And of course, there is The Great Gatsby, probably your first thought when thinking “movies from the 1920s.” It is a solid film, so go ahead, watch Leo Decaprio sip from a champagne flute and long after that green light. Enjoy!
