I hope I’m not sounding like a broken record because I’ve said this before in other reviews, but I’ve seen a lot of movies based on true events. There have been a lot of them over the years. Some fit into a specific category, but others do not. Roofman is one that has a vibe of some other true story movies, but it does it in a way that is quite different. It takes the familiar tropes we’ve seen in this genre and changed it up. Derek Cianfrance is back with another film. This time around, it’s different from things he’s done in the past. He even got a fantastic ensemble to come along with him for this fun story based on true events.

Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is an ex-military man, Army Ranger, to be specific, and has a wife and three kids, an eight year old girl Becky, and two new born twins. Despite his military background and intelligence, they are struggling financially. So, he reverts to robbing McDonald’s fast food restaurants to give his family a better life. Garnering the moniker of “the Roofman” on the local news because of the way he breaks into and robs them. He’s feeling good until he’s eventually caught. This is just the beginning of the story. What happened next is a very heartwarming and beautiful story, but it is doomed to fail. As anybody who knows about this story probably knows.

Channing Tatum has had an up and down career over the years. He started out a bit Rocky, but as his career progressed, he started to develop his voice as an actor. A few comedic performances in the 21/22 Jumpstreet films showed he has comedic sensibilities, but with Blink Twice, he showed he also has more dramatic acting chops. In Roofman, he combines both of these disciplines to great effect. The comedic moments are subtle in a great way. You don’t expect some of the things he does with his character like slapstick and wearing goofy costumes. Then, he’s very emotional and serious in his relationships and romantic moments. His scenes on the phone or with any of the children or teens in the movie are some of the most touching and emotional moments. He really shines in these sequences in the film. That showed me how much he’s progressed as an actor.

Besides Tatum, the supporting cast of the movie is pretty solid. Kirsten Dunst plays a love interest of the Tatum character after he breaks out of prison. She also works at the Toys R Us, which plays a key part of the story. She’s a sweet lady who is looking for  some companionship and finds it in this escaped felon. Peter Dinklage plays the store manager, and he’s very similar to bosses I’ve had in the past. He’s not very nice to his employees. Both Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba play a pastor and his wife at the church the Dunst and Tatum characters attend. They are very nice Christian people who are all in on Christianity. Lakieth Stanfield plays a friend of the Tatum character before and after he gets arrested and escapes from prison. He has a business that facilitates felons and convicts like the Tatum character by helping them get new identities. This cast is fantastic. Everybody in the cast seems like they are enjoying their time working with each other and in this movie, respectively. I could tell this entire cast was having a good time working on this film.

Because this story took place 25 or so years ago, there is a period look and feel to the film. Cianfrance chose to make this movie using film and not give it a digital look. I think that benefited the story and the picture overall. It’s hard to capture a specific time period like this, but he did it masterfully. Throw in the clothes, like washed out jeans or cotton shirts and various hair styles that fit the era the movie took place in, and you have a genuine period piece. I know that sounds strange, but 25 years ago was a while back. I love when a filmmaker can give a film a specific look like this because it puts the viewer right into the story from the get-go. I didn’t live in the North Carolina area, but where I did live at this time looked and felt this way.

Now, another thing Cianfrance did that brought the time period of the early 2000s back to life was the production design. Technically, Toys R Us is barely holding on these days. They have some stores inside Macy’s, but I heard after filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy that they are coming back with 20 stores all over the country. They used to be a staple in this country, but ever since Amazon and online shopping took over brick and mortar stores have started going the way of the dodo bird. They’re going extinct. It was nice to see a big part of the setting of the picture was in a Toys R Us. Also, McDonald’s and Blockbuster videos were prominently featured in the beginning and in the background of the movie. These places brought back a lot of memories for me growing up and living in this era.

There is one film that I remember that reminded me of Roofman, and that is “Where the Heart Is”. a movie where a woman is abandoned and gives birth to a child while living in a Walmart. Even though one wasn’t an escaped criminal and the other is the films, it has a similar feel to me. Both have a good message even though they are based on real stories.The Tatum movie shows that just because you are a converted criminal and an escaped convict, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy. He was just trying to help his family before and after the arrest by giving them a better life. Yeah, he went about it the wrong way, but it didn’t mean he was a malicious killer or anything. There was a similarity to both the Portman and Tatim characters and the world they found themselves in.

Roofman was an entertaining film based on true events. The entire cast were fantastic and knew the material they were working with.There was a bit of winking at the camera because the story was a bit farfetched even though it was real. Tatum gives the best performance of his career as this man who was trying to better the lives of not one but two families. The production design brought back the feels as these were places I used to frequent when I was living back 25 years ago. The camera work regarding giving a movie a specific look was also a nice touch. The grain on the film made the movie look like that time period. Overall, this was a fun film that had a message that even though you or someone did a bad thing, it doesn’t make them a bad person. I tend to agree with that mantra.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen