Director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Light Between Oceans) is careful at the beginning of his latest work, Roofman, to tell us “This is a true story”—not “Based on a true story” or “Inspired by true events”—and so we are meant to believe that there is some truth to the tale about to be told. And at the very least, he makes it feel real, even if bits and pieces are fabricated or tweaked for dramatic purposes. Initially, Roofman man may feel like lighter fare than Cianfrance usually tackles, but the struggles that lead character Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) must go through to avoid capture and maintain healthy relationships are engaging and quite real.
Manchester is a former Army Ranger who is having trouble making money once he's discharged, trying to support his wife (Melonie Diaz) and three kids, so his solution is to break into 45 different McDonald's restaurants over the course of several months. He gains access through their roofs overnight, waiting for the employees to arrive in the morning to open the safe with the cash from the day before waiting to be deposited. He’s cordial, never hurts anybody, and during one of the robberies, he even gives the manager his coat before he locks the man in the freezer. There is never a point in the movie where we aren’t supposed to be rooting for Manchester to finally turn his life around, but eventually he does get caught for stealing a tremendous amount of money, having spent most of it to get his family back together.
He’s sentenced to a ridiculous amount of time in prison, and it kills him that his wife won’t let their kids talk to him on the phone any longer, so he begins to plot a way to escape prison. Before going to jail, his closest friend from the Army, Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), tells him that he needs to use his “superpower” of precise observational skills as a way to make money, and in fact, that’s what he did with the robberies—he watched the daily procedures of the restaurant workers, realized that every McDonald's has the exact same routine, and turned that into a financially lucrative plan. Cianfrance and co-screenwriter Kirt Gunn let us observe Manchester in every possible situation—from desperate father to expert criminal and master improviser when a plan goes sideways. His escape from prison is also based on skilled observation, and soon he’s out.
He reaches out to Steve for help securing a new identity and passport, and when Steve tells him the process will take months, Manchester settles into Charlotte, North Carolina, where he gets what appears to be a second lease on life when he secretly lives inside a Toys“R”Us store, surviving undetected and stealing merchandise to sell at pawn shops to fund his life. While observing the employees at the store during the day, he notices Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) and decides to grab a few items off the shelves to donate to her church's toy drive. But he gets dragged into the church during a service conducted by the local pastor (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife (Uzo Aduba); they embrace Manchester, who gives an alias, in their flock even while he lies to them about having a top-secret government job that brings him to town. But becoming a part of the church also gives him a chance to get to know Leigh and eventually her two daughters from a previous marriage.
What’s fascinating about the way Roofman handles their relationship is that it treats them like adults and not characters in some brain-dead romantic comedy. Instead of blasting a pop tune over a montage of them hanging out and doing fun stuff, we actually get to spend time with them, hear their small talk and getting-to-know-you conversations, and it makes us like them deeply when all is said and done. She’s worried things are moving too fast and doesn’t want to upset her daughters, while he is convinced that he’s not worthy of her, and this made-up life is going to screw up whatever good comes to them.
The film feels incredibly lived in and the progression of their relationship feels organic and sweet. Tatum has rarely been better as worry and panic start to rise up and his double life threatens to blow up in his face. We also meet Leigh’s bullying boss (Peter Dinklage), who ultimately and unknowingly becomes a key component in Manchester’s final heist, which is meant to bring in enough money to pay for his new identity and give Leigh and her kids something to get by on. You also get blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameos by the likes of Jimmy Yang, Punkie Johnson, Juno Temple, and Tony Revolori in key moments.
I found myself charmed by the dynamic of this couple, but also impressed at Manchester’s ability to stay ahead of the police (until his luck runs out spectacularly). Roofman has moments of big laughter, family drama, and fantastic acting that might be career-best stuff from Tatum (at least in his roles that don’t involve dancing). And the way things wrap up is both heartbreaking and incredibly, unexpectedly moving. This was a nice little surprise for the week.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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