Review: Roofman

Based on an unbelievable true story, ROOFMAN follows Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), an Army veteran and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.

What We Thought:

Roofman isn’t quite the movie I thought it would be, but it’s still a solid flick with a strong performance from Channing Tatum. If you look at the movie poster you might expect more of a comedy than a drama, but it’s more a drama with comedic elements than anything else.

Don’t get me wrong, the comedic elements are quite funny, but at times the film gets heavy because of the true story it is based on. Tatum plays a veteran who’s struggling to make ends meet for his family. He starts robbing McDonald’s and other places, but soon gets caught despite being a nice guy during the robberies. He breaks out of prison and finds himself living in a Toys R Us and falling for a new family.

The segments involving him at the Toys R Us are funny. He eats M&Ms, grabs clothes from the lost & found and tries to keep sane while living in a toy store at night. When he falls for Kirsten Dunst’s character and her two daughters, it is more dramatic as he tries to figure out how to be with them and not get caught. Tatum does a good job portraying the character with subtlety and not going over-the-top with his performance.

That’s why the film works, despite the character being a criminal who should be in prison, Tatum’s performance makes him easy to root for. The real person was nice while robbing people and Tatum brings that nice guy aspect to him offering his jacket to a McDonald’s employee so he doesn’t freeze in the deep freezer and bringing stolen toys to a toy drive at a church. You know his world will come crashing down on him, but you watch to see how long he can get away with it.

Roofman is a bit too long, but overall it’s a nice little gem coming out when you expect horror movies and not much else. It’s well made and has a stellar cast and the story is just offbeat enough to hold your attention. Tatum can usually be more miss than hit for me, but this is probably his best performance since Logan Lucky. I hope he does more “everyman” type characters because he’s quite good at them. If you’re expecting some whacky, weird location crime caper like Airheads you’ll be disappointed, but if you want a solid film for adults with a good cast, strong lead, some good laughs and a nice story then check it out.