1 of 5 | Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in “Roofman,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Roofman, in theaters Friday, is an amiable true crime caper with an endearing romantic subplot. It’s no Ocean’s Eleven with elaborate, sophisticated schemes, but it takes a real-life story and makes it entertaining.
Channing Tatum stars as Jeffrey Manchester, a man who becomes known as the Roofman Robber after committing dozens of robberies by breaking through the store’s roof, including at McDonald’s and other fast food chains. He breaks out of prison in a simple but clever way and hides out in a Toys “R” Us store, leading police to suspect he’s fled the area.
Director Derek Cianfrance channels his The Place Behind the Pines camerawork, following Jeffrey through Toys “R” Us as he explores the lay of the land and evaluates hiding places. He spends his first night evading security cameras, but quickly learns how to disable them entirely.
Jeffrey finds an inconspicuous storage area and makes a bedroom for daytime when the store is full of customers. He feeds on baby food and candy and even bathes in the bathroom sink, cleaning up after himself so he leaves no trace.
His new routine is as compelling as his McDonald’s robbery and prison break. It answers all of the questions a viewer may have about why nobody notices him, while demonstrating his resourcefulness.
Jeffrey was a sergeant in the Army reserves who struggled to maintain employment upon his return. The film does not delve into the societal and governmental factors that might make it difficult for military veterans to reacclimate to noncombat life.
Jeffrey’s Army buddy Steve (LaKeith Stanfield) commits larger felonies by forging passports as a side hustle, however.
When Jeffrey overhears Toys “R” Us employee Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) discussing her church’s toy drive, he decides to steal some toys to donate. Jeffrey does not expect the church to invite him in, so he invents a fake name.
The casting makes it obvious that Jeffrey and Leigh will have a romance, but the film justifies it. After a month in isolation, Jeffrey is craving human contact.
He turns on the charm in the church and at a singles dinner where they invite him to a Red Lobster. He also misses his own daughter, whom he can’t see, both because he’s an escaped convict and his ex-wife (Melonie Diaz) doesn’t want him around their children anymore.
So when Jeffrey gets serious with Leigh, he bonds with her daughters as a substitute. Her youngest, Dee (Kennedy Moyer), is easy but he works hard enough to find ways to connect with teenager Lindsay (Lily Collias) too.
All of this is a touching depiction of the way blended families could connect, with the suspense of the inevitable approaching. At the very least, Leigh is going to find out who Jeffrey really is and the only way for him to get away clean would mean leaving Leigh behind.
Jeffrey even oversteps a little, trying to make peace between Leigh and Lindsay when their issues predate him. That’s not the dealbreaker though. He can recover from that.
Jeffrey steals more from the toy store, sometimes to give generously as gifts but often just to pawn for spending cash. The issue of missing inventory is mostly glossed over in dialogue where store manager Mitch (Peter Dinklage) suspecting his employees of eating the candy and noticing significant amounts of video games missing but for some reason not doing anything about it.
The stakes are relatively low. Jeffrey is not the reason Toys “R” Us closed in 2018. He robbed from a corporate giant and played a little Robin Hood.
Where he potentially did more damage is by involving Leigh’s family, but interviews with the real-life subjects during the end credits suggest everyone involved ended up okay and remember Jeffrey fondly.
Like the crimes it depicts, Roofman is unlikely to leave much of a mark in cinema. For the duration of its runtime though, it provides an entertaining curiosity with well-earned heart.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
