"Roofman"

  ☆☆☆☆

There aren't many pleasant surprises in the world these days, which makes Roofman something to cherish. It's a disarming surprise, a movie that is hardly hinted at by its comedic-crime-caper marketing, which dresses up Channing Tatum in silly clothes and gives him a gun. That's close to false advertising — not quite, but close.

Channing Tatum does wear some silly clothes. In more than one scene, he wields a gun. Maybe it's something about Tatum? It's the same problem that dogged his movie Magic Mike, which focused on the sexy prospect of seeing men strip down to nothing and hid the true depths of that movie.

Roofman also has some real depth. You wouldn't know it from the marketing, and you wouldn't know it from the first 30 minutes of the movie, which are not all that great. Tatum's character, Jeffrey Manchester, is an odd mix of hardened criminal and heartfelt nice guy — he breaks into businesses through their roofs, but really, really doesn't want to hurt anyone. Everyone, even the people he takes hostage, seems to like him.

In a very long setup, the Roofman, as he comes to be called, gets caught, goes to prison, escapes, gets rejected by his family, and goes on the run. It takes a long time for the story to kick in, and the quirkiness of the movie's early scenes feel a little too much like an attempt to ape the Coen Brothers.

But give Roofman a chance. That opening is, at least, entertaining, which is not a surprise coming from director Derek Cianfrance, whose movies Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines are far more serious but just as captivating. Then something happens.

Jeff finds a place to lay low, to keep out of the way until his prison friend Steve (LaKeith Stanfield) can help him create a new identity. Jeff finds just the place to do this: an out-of-the-way alcove inside of a Toys "R" Us store. Now, you can easily find out what happens by looking up the real story of Jeffrey Manchester, who changes his name to John Zorn. Roofman isn't as much about what happens than who it happens to: a man who knows he's making terrible decisions, and people in his community who don't know a thing about him.

Roofman finds itself — finds its soul, really — by turning itself into a story about someone who gets a true second chance, who can remake himself and finds that he likes the new version a lot better than the old one. As John, he finds himself falling for a woman who works at Toys "R" Us and who has two kids and who isn't looking for anyone new, but finds them anyway.

Kirsten Dunst is the woman, and you may expect you know what her character is and how she'll act, and the real, unexpected beauty of Roofman is that she often does just that. She behaves the way a real person might behave. Most of the people in this movie do, but through the lens of empathy and understanding — the movie takes a kind and forgiving view of human nature, and uses this odd story to discover some of the truths about community and acceptance and moving on.

Again, you can find out what happened to the real Manchester just by searching his name. But I hope you won't. It's not that anything about Roofman is really surprising — the story ends mostly how you think it will. But through the most charming and self-effacing performance by Tatum, who is downright magnetic here, and through the real humanity of Dunst and the excellent supporting cast (including Peter Dinklage, whose movie The Station Agent isn't too far removed emotionally from Roofman), there's something genuinely revealing about this movie. It ends just as you expect or fear it will, and yet it still feels surprising, disarming and even soulful.

Viewed November 5, 2025 — AMC Topanga

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