Each Chastain and Shannon are extremely delicate on-screen forces, nonetheless a lot they’ve two very alternative ways of filling a room. They’ve deep chemistry all through, whether or not it is the preliminary courtship through which George presents himself as a sweeter, extra loving man than her present husband (Pat Healy’s Don Chapel) or when they are much older, worn down by their story however nonetheless sharing some glint of their eyes. And so they set up the infatuation that saved them coming again—she was an enormous George Jones fan lengthy earlier than assembly him, and he was rapidly captivated by not simply her voice. When the 2 are on the stage collectively, you get why this all occurred this fashion.
Chastain and Shannon have depicted a relationship earlier than, in Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter,” and established themselves with different tales of marriage. However now they’ve hovering songs to enrich their dramatic work, as once we see Chastain belt out the very best notes of Wynette’s hit, “Stand By Your Man,” though George’s conduct has professionally screwed her over once more. And the scene when Shannon’s a lot older Jones information future mega-hit “He Stopped Loving Her Right this moment,” with a weary Tammy watching him simply past the glass of the recording sales space, is heartbreaking and lovely.
Outdoors of their careers, the sequence offers a somber gentle on the forces of their lives that, in a method or one other, gave George & Tammy consolation however managed them. After giving start to their youngster Georgette, Tammy suffers problems from a hysterectomy that has her reliant on painkillers and injections later supplied by songwriter, supervisor, and later-husband George Richey (Steve Zahn in Good Man flip), which quickly turns into one other poisonous relationship. However George Richey is just not an anomaly on this world, and “George & Tammy” illustrates the fraught placement of ladies on this universe that options a number of males who write ballads with Tammy as a technique to management her. The folks she’s closest to need a piece of her, and her standing of being a top-selling singer solely places her extra at risk.
