Roofman (2025)
Writer/director Derek Cianfrance's (The Place Beyond the Pines, Blue Valentine) Roofman tells the true story of a man who committed a daring series of robberies in the late 1990s. After he gets a long prison sentence, he commits a daring escape and hides out in a Toys"R"Us for months.
Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey
Manchester, a military vet whose financial situation, combined with his own
insecurity, leads him to break into McDonalds chains through the roof
overnight. In the morning, he very politely herds the employees in the freezer—but
not before making sure they have coats.
After getting bored and restless in his
Toys"R"Us hiding space, Manchester ventures out to a nearby church that a Toys"R"Us
employee (Kirsten Dunst) frequents. There, he makes friends and starts to fall
in love.
The trailer makes Roofman look
like a comedy. While there are comedic elements to it, viewers should be aware
that it's more serious than the trailer shows. There's a real sadness to
Manchester's story. He's a genuinely loving father, but he's being torn up
inside by the knowledge that his own actions have placed him in a situation
where he is unlikely to ever see his kids again. There's also a thematic link
to Cianfrance's darker The Place Beyond the Pines—namely that once a
person starts a life of crime, it is extremely difficult to extricate oneself
from that path.
Tatum and Dunst are good as the leads,
but there are also good supporting turns in Roofman. Ben Mendelsohn,
known mostly for villainous roles in films including Rogue One and The
Dark Knight Rises, is cast effectively against type as a dorky but sincere
and decent pastor.
Roofman may not be as rollicking
and lighthearted as the trailers try to make it seem, but it's still worth
seeing.
