‘Roofman’ Review: Channing Tatum Delivers Career-Best Performance in Crime Caper

Biopics are all the rage these days. A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic, was nominated for eight Oscars last year. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is releasing this year, director Sam Mendes has committed to making four individual films about The Beatles, and Tom Holland will star as Fred Astaire in a forthcoming biopic from Sony, just to mention a few. The latest, and perhaps most unique, within this stable is Roofman, the story of criminal Jeffrey Manchester, who became famous for robbing McDonald’s restaurants by entering through the roof.

While that style of crime is unique enough, the story gets even more interesting as the film progresses. Jeffrey, sent to prison for his roof adventures, escapes and manages to evade police by hiding out inside a local Toys “R” Us. It’s kind of the perfect biopic topic for director Derek Cianfrance, who has a knack for exploring endearing relationships between struggling adults set against a crime-laced backdrop (see Blue Valentine or The Place Beyond The Pines). That’s exactly what Roofman is able to accomplish so well with its breezy, energetic story.

Derek Cianfrance Does True Crime the Right Way

Once Jeff escapes prison and finds a hideaway (that eventually becomes properly stocked with family-sized bags of Peanut M&Ms and a Spice Girls poster) in Toys “R” Us within the hollow space behind the wall of new bikes. Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a single mom of two working in a vintage toy shop, is overheard by Jeff (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in her conversations with her curmudgeonly boss, played hilariously by Peter Dinklage. This sparks Jeff’s decision to venture back into society and lend a hand.

Society has quietly moved on from his prison escape, and over time, Jeff starts to fall for Leigh, until, inevitably, his cover gets blown in a hilarious, gut-punching scene. The magic that Cianfrance is able to elicit from Tatum, who is the perfect blend of empathetic, childlike, and endearing, is top-tier. Additionally, Kiersten Dunst delivers an authentic performance that elevates the entire project, bringing Roofman out of the “standard biopic” zone into the “biopic done right” category.

Humanity and Love Are at the Center of ‘Roofman’

There are aspects of the movie that do come across as plot devices, even if they are accurate to the story. LaKeith Stanfield and Juno Temple have a B-plot where they are creating a fake passport for Jeff, but their time doesn’t hinder the snappy pace and impressively deep character building between Tatum and Dunst that is the heart and soul of the film.

It’s a pleasure to see that, even in a genre mix-up from Cianfrance (he noted in the post-movie Q&A that he wanted to take a project away from the darker-leaning stories of his previous films), he is able to continue to focus on his true themes. He focuses much of the movie on Jeff becoming a pseudo-father to Leigh’s two daughters and the positive impact that has not only on Leigh and her daughters, but on Jeff and his inner state of acceptance and being.

Roofman delivers on everything you want out of a movie like this – authentic performances that work cohesively in order to serve a story that, at the end of the day, shows that everybody deserves a second chance. That means even if you break into McDonald’s restaurants through the roof. It isn’t about the actions of a person as much as where their heart lies.

Roofman releases in theaters nationwide on October 10. Follow Agents of Fandom on socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.