A charismatic criminal, while on the run from the police, hides in a hidden space of a toy store. There, he adopts a new identity and becomes involved with an employee, beginning a relationship as unlikely as it is risky.

‘Roofman’ tells the story of Jeffrey Manchester, a career criminal who got his name for breaking into a number of stores (often McDonald’s) via the roof, hiding until morning then robbing the till as soon as the first staff arrived. Eventually caught, he managed to escape from prison and spent a large portion of his time on the run hiding out in a Toys ‘R’ Us store, which remarkably, is part of this mostly true story. It’s directed by Derek Cianfrance, in a bit of a departure from his usual films, and stars Channing Tatum in the leading role as Manchester.

While based on a true life drama, ‘Roofman’ as a movie is primarily a comedy caper that focuses on the audaciousness of Manchester’s life on the run, which besides staying in Toys ‘R’ Us, also involved him developing a relationship with a woman who he meets at the local church (Leigh, played by Kirsten Dunst). The key character point the movie wants to explore is that Manchester is not like other criminals, is actually a good person (despite the litany of robberies and arsons), and he is conflicted about his lying and inevitable betrayal to Leigh, which puts him at risk. Whether you want to believe this narrative or not, it can’t be denied that the movie does a good job of selling that persona and that is in large part down to Channing Tatum and his innate likability.

Tatum is brilliant in the central role and ‘Roofman’ plays to his strengths as a good comedic actor who is also capable of drama, with this role perfectly suited to him. He is aided by Dunst and some other enjoyable supporting performances (Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba and LaKeith Stanfield are also involved in a more than decent cast), but he is the star of the show. It helps that this is an entertaining story and the script draws out the best parts of it – I particularly like seeing how someone like Manchester managed to escape and stay escaped for so long – and it also has an underlying sweetness and heart that makes the audience care about the fate of the characters, including Manchester (regardless of what the real life man has done).

I found ‘Roofman’ to be very entertaining with Channing Tatum at his best, and this is a movie worth spending a couple of hours with.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Derek Cianfrance

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang and Peter Dinklage

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4627382/