The trailer presents the film as a fun, comedic romp, but Roofman is so much more than that. It’s a tender, heartbreaking film about love and family and what you’ll do to stay close to them.

“Based on a true story” is one of the most enticing ways to start a film. I’m a sucker for adaptations of real-life stories, and Roofman is the perfect intersection of many topics I find intriguing. And as someone who has become a fan of Channing Tatum in recent years, this film was on my radar big time. The trailer presents the film as a fun, comedic romp, but Roofman is so much more than that. It’s a tender, heartbreaking film about love and family and what you’ll do to stay close to them.

Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is an ex-military dad living in North Carolina. He and his wife are divorced, so they must care for their three children separately. He throws his daughter a birthday party where all she wanted was a bike, but his struggle to maintain a job after returning home causes him to disappoint her. After he passes his children over to his ex at a McDonald’s, he schemes up a plan to rob it, which he does successfully by entering through the roof. What he lacks in the ability to fit into regular civilian life, he makes up for in intellect. He’s able to see patterns and enact plans much better than the common criminal. His few years of robbing fast food restaurants ended up getting him a big, beautiful house for his family. Unfortunately, his soft heart got in his way. He forced the McDonald’s workers into a freezer, but one of them didn’t bring his coat, so he gave his coat to the worker. This was his downfall. The cops were able to find him, and he was sentenced to go to jail for 45 years. Several years later, he’s in prison and has a job there that gives him the opportunity to escape. He plans it out thoroughly, and he succeeds. When the manhunt for him is underway, he hides in a Toys “R” Us and is able to craft a neat little area for himself in the store. His plan gets twisted whenever he begins to fall for the kind Toys “R” Us worker, Leigh (Kirsten Dunst). He sneaks out and ends up meeting her in person, and starts a relationship with her.

Roofman is essentially the Channing Tatum show. The movie lives and dies on him. Not only does it live, it thrives because of Tatum. The first Channing Tatum film I ever saw was Magic Mike’s Last Dance. I had no knowledge of Tatum besides the fact he was a pretty boy and a big celebrity crush for millennial women. I was surprised to find that, while yes, he is pretty, he is so much more than that. Since then, I’ve been a Channing fan. I’ve been following his work, rewatching older films, and have been impressed with what I’ve seen. When the trailer for this film dropped, I was so excited to see it for him. When I saw that Roofman was going to be written and directed by Derek Cianfrance, the writer and director of Blue Valentine (historically known as a devastating film), I knew there had to be more than meets the eye. I was right. The Channing Tatum onscreen persona I think of first is “bad boy with a heart of gold,” which is exactly what Jeff’s personality is. They are a match made in heaven.

Tatum is a versatile actor. He is a goofball in the Jump Street movies and The Lost City, but he plays intelligent characters in the Magic Mike trilogy and Logan Lucky. He’s equally as believable in one mode as the other. Roofman is the perfect combination of these two sides of himself. Despite Jeff’s talent for recognizing patterns, his empathetic heart causes him to make stupid decisions. Usually, when we watch films, we want a character to grow emotionally and become a better person, but that’s not the case here. It’s strange to be hoping Jeff becomes cold and calculating as he makes his plans. Tatum plays the good and the bad, charming and warm. This is a tricky tone to balance, but he nails it.

Channing went through a physical change to portray Jeff. He slimmed down to match Jeff’s naturally thinner shape. Also, due to the limited options for him to eat within the Toys “R” Us (mostly peanut M&Ms), he doesn’t have the nutrition to gain weight. It’s interesting to see how the standard for male attractiveness has changed. Leigh compliments his fit body, but the male standard of beauty today would require him to be buff.

The film nails down the 2000s time period perfectly. As someone who grew up in that time and in the south, the vibe was so familiar to me and incredibly accurate. Most of the small towns in the south, like mine, are mostly franchises, especially in the 2000s. Red Lobster, where Jeff and Leigh attend the singles event, was considered a fancy restaurant, only meant for special occasions. From the church to Toys “R” Us to the outfits, I felt like I was transported back in time, the perfect dose of nostalgia. It’s a tough period to recreate because nothing was quite as obvious as the style of the decades before. Also, Roofman could only happen in this time period or before. With how rampant cell phones are and how we are constantly recorded, Jeff’s robberies would nearly be impossible today.

The cast is incredibly stacked, so much so that you have to wonder why these actors chose to be in Roofman. Several of these roles could have easily been played by lesser-known actors, but with a premise like this one, I can see why they would be happy to join. Kirsten Dunst’s character Leigh feels like a woman I’ve known all my life. She’s the ideal Christian woman. You can see why Jeff is willing to risk his freedom for her, and Tatum and Dunst have great chemistry together. LaKeith Stanfield plays Jeff’s ex-military best friend who also fails to maintain a “regular” job after leaving the service. He is a major aspect of Jeff’s escape plan. His girlfriend Michelle is played by Juno Temple, who is by far the most underutilized of the recognizable actors. Ben Mendolsohn, who has previously worked with Cianfrance, is the pastor of Leigh’s church. It’s strange to see him play a genuinely nice man, considering he’s evil in most things I’ve seen him in. Uzo Aduba plays his wife Eileen, who is instrumental in setting up Jeff and Leigh. Finally, Peter Dinklage is the asshole Toys “R” Us manager Mitch, who is rude to all his employees. Despite Jeff being a literal criminal, Mitch feels like the most despicable character overall, a testament to Dinklage’s performance.

Despite the fun premise and comedic situations, the screenplay makes several points subtly that were very affecting. First is how soldiers returning from war struggle to readjust to normal life. The military can chew and spit people out once it is done with them. Jeff joined the military because he wasn’t good at school, and he couldn’t find his footing when he returned home. Supporting a family can be a monumental task for a regular man, but Jeff’s odds were against him. The film would’ve added depth had it explored this, although it would’ve been against the tone the movie was going for. Also, the theme of found family was particularly powerful. When Jeff went to jail, his ex-wife forced his daughter to cut contact. While it was essentially impossible post-prison breakout to reconnect with his biological family, he ended up bonding with Leigh and her daughters. He clearly loves connection and helping out others. Although that ended up being his downfall, it’s beautiful to see a man value that so deeply.

There’s more that meets the eye to Jeff and to Roofman. Don’t judge Jeff by his actions, and don’t judge Roofman by its trailer. The film has a little bit of everything, from comedy to drama to romance; there’s no way to leave the theater fully unhappy. And without Channing Tatum’s spectacular performance, the film wouldn’t be nearly as great as it was. Anyone expecting a statement beyond “don’t judge a book by its cover” might be a touch irritated because the film is specifically a character study, and not interested in the sociological conditions needed to make it possible. That being said, this tale still feels too insane to be true, even though Cianfrance gives us a glimpse of the actual people in the credits. Although breaking the law is never a great thing, we can at least take comfort that Jeff broke it for the right reasons: family and love.

Grade: A-

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should Be Considered: None

Where to Watch: In Theaters