Roofman

Derek Cianfrance’s latest film, Roofman, is based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, who robbed over 40 businesses in the early 2000s before being sentenced to prison time. When he finally escaped underneath a transport truck in 2004, he made his way back to Charlotte, North Carolina and took up residence in a Toys R Us store.

Courtesy Paramount

Gifted with an inherently interesting story, Cianfrance uses his personal stylistic flairs to give the film itself a veneer of sweetness. At the heart of the movie, there is a love story involving Channing Tatum’s Manchester and Kirsten Dunst’s Leigh Wainscott. Dunst’s character works at Toys R Us, and while Manchester is awake in a custom nook he made for himself by the bike display, he watches her and other employees go about their days for entertainment. When the lonely and perpetually on-the-run Manchester makes a connection with her, the actors make it believable and the relationship feels real.

Tatum was cast for his levity and easy-going persona. The star of Step Up and Magic Mike has basically made a career on being a likable guy, and Cianfrance has certainly tapped into that potential here. Dunst, for her part, plays an excellent divorcee who is up front about what her needs are. Her dialogue scenes come off effortless and authentic. This is also one of the first, if only films, that will give you an inside look at what it’s like to work at one of America’s former flagship glory stores. To that end, Peter Dinklage is great as Mitch, a hilariously jaded and selfish store manager who tries to find out where all the peanut M&M’s have gone in the middle of the night. These candies have been providing Manchester’s only sustenance while living inside the toy store. Additional casting boons include Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba, who play a local pastor and his wife, respectively, who also have some very good singing scenes together.

It’s true, the real life story that inspired Roofman, originally titled for Manchester’s involuntary news media moniker because he would cut holes in the roofs of buildings he would burglarize, is stranger than fiction. The film comes off as a starkly humorous caper while also leading into the real world consequences of trying to make it in America. These tonal notes are perhaps timely, and it is this rags to riches ambition that propels the story of Jeffrey Manchester forward.

Courtesy Paramount

For example, Manchester is very capable. He rappels into buildings because the Army taught him to do so. When his friend Steve, played by a somewhat unsympathetic but helpful Lakeith Stanfield, demands $50,000 to make him a false passport, Manchester begins planning a huge heist in almost no time at all. Still, the center of the story isn’t the downtrodden Manchester. It is actually his relationship with Leigh Wainscott and her two daughters, Dee and Lindsay, played by Kennedy Moyer and Lily Collias, respectively, that acts as the emotional heart of the piece. Manchester has children of his own before he meets Leigh; they have since estranged themselves from him due to his criminal acts, which Manchester insists were for their benefit.

And this is a story we’ve heard before. There is a smack of the selfish Breaking Bad motif of a father committing sins to fund his family’s lifestyle. At one point, Stanfield’s character recognizes Manchester’s capabilities but criticizes his reckless nature, describing him as the “dumbest, smart” person he has ever known. And this is the ethos of Tatum’s character. He means well, probably, but his willingness to take from others is what ultimately catches up with him in the end.

The film is a turning point in the oeuvre of Cianfrance as well. He has been lauded in the past for particularly depressing films, such as Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines. This latest film focuses on Tatum as a robber with a heart of gold as he tries to find himself in a new, and perhaps better place, while on the run in the very same country he chose to defend when he signed up for the US Army. This adds a significant point of nuance to Tatum’s character. He comes off sweet and amiable; in one scene he teaches Lindsay, Leigh’s daughter, to drive and the resulting hug between her and her step-father figure is almost enough to incite tears in the viewer, especially considering how much Jeffrey Manchester misses his own kids in this scene. The tension and anxiety in this film evoke the same feelings in the viewer. As Jeffrey runs away from police, we worry about him being caught while also imagining what we would do if we were in his shoes. Cianfrance is a master at creating sympathetic characters, and his blind focus on Tatum’s kindness pays off in dividends.

Courtesy Paramount

All of this is to say Roofman is a very pleasing film. It’s funny, fast-paced and coupled with a fair amount of action and robbery scenes as well. The cast does an excellent job of creating a community for the characters to thrive in and the level of believability that benefits from their performances is quite high. Cianfrance’s tonal shift from depressing to sweet is remarkable, but one must watch the whole film to discover how Cianfrance really feels about the moral issues at play.

Roofman is now playing in theaters.