Roofman (2025) Paramount/Comedy-Drama RT: 126 minutes Rated R (language, nudity and brief sexuality) Director: Derek Cianfrance Screenplay: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn Music: Christopher Bear Cinematography: Andrij Parekh Release date: October 10, 2025 (US) Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Lakeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Peter Dinklage, Melonie Diaz, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Kennedy Moyer, Molly Price, Emory Cohen, Alissa Marie Pearson, Tony Revolori, Jimmy O. Yang.
Rating: ** ½
Has this ever happened to you? You watch a movie and enjoy it, but when you think about it later on, it kind of falls apart. You start to notice plot holes and major credibility issues. It’s an apt description of my experience watching Roofman, a comedic crime drama starring Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) as real-life criminal Jeffrey Manchester, a robber whose signature move was entering businesses by cutting through their roofs hence the moniker Roofman. I like it well enough, but I have so many questions.
Jeffrey has had a hard time of it since his discharge from the Army. He’s unemployed, divorced and barely getting by financially. He can’t even afford to buy his daughter a decent birthday gift. The only thing he has going for him is keen observational skills, an ability referred to as his “superpower” by his only friend, fellow vet Steve (Stanfield, Get Out).
In one of his trademark bad choices, Jeffrey uses these skills to kick-start a career in crime. He breaks into McDonald’s restaurants through the roofs, waits for the morning staff to arrive and then cleans out the safe. All the while, he’s polite and genial even giving his coat to a manager so he doesn’t freeze when he locks the employees in the freezer. He manages to hit 45 locations before he’s caught and sentenced to 45 years.
Jeffrey’s skills come in handy on the inside. He watches and watches until he has the prison’s routines down. He then devises and executes an elaborate yet simple escape plan. He makes his way home to Charlotte where he sets up camp inside a Toys “R” Us. Steve tells him to lie low for a few weeks until the heat dies down. Of course, that’s NOT what Jeffrey does. He’s not too bright.
Jeffrey basically makes the toy store his home. He lives on baby food and peanut M&Ms. He bathes in the rest room. He wears clothes from the lost and found. By day, he conceals himself in a hollow structure just above the bicycle display. He watches the day-to-day goings-on via hidden cameras that he rigged up himself. That’s how he discovers Leigh (Dunst, Civil War), an employee and divorced mother of two just trying to get by. Naturally, it’s enough to make Jeffrey come out of hiding and start a romantic relationship with the woman.
Okay, here’s one of my questions. Once Jeffrey starts going out in public, how is it that not a single person recognizes him? His face has been plastered all over the news. The local cops are actively looking for him. He even sits down to lunch at Red Lobster with a group of Leigh’s church friends, one of whom is retired law enforcement. You mean to tell me absolutely nobody recognizes him?
Okay, how about this? In order to make money, Jeffrey steals a ton of video games from the store and sells them to the local pawn shop. Don’t you think it might arouse the suspicion of the shop owner? Where did this guy get all these brand new games? Also, doesn’t anybody at Toys “R” Us notice the missing inventory? Surely it would get the attention of somebody at corporate. It makes me wonder how much of Roofman is actually true. I understand that writer-director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) took dramatic license in telling the story of Roofman. He wouldn’t be the first filmmaker to do this. I also don’t doubt that Jeffrey is as dim as Tatum portrays him. I just find certain aspects of the film hard to swallow.
That’s not the movie’s only flaw. Cianfrance really struggles with tone. Looking at the trailer (which I’ve seen at least 30 times), you would think Roofman is a comedy caper. It’s NOT. It has comedic elements, but it’s not really that. It isn’t really serious either. It comes close to touching on serious themes (e.g. the plight of vets upon coming home, the economy), but never actually explores them. It’s steadiest when it shows the developing relationship between Jeffrey, Leigh and her daughters, one of them an “emotionally unavailable” teen (Collias, Good One). Aside from that, Roofman is a movie in search of an identity.
On the upside, Tatum delivers one of his best performances. He’s completely believable as a likable but dumb criminal trying to make a better life for his loved ones. In yet another hard to believe story element, it’s a miracle he’s not apprehended sooner. Let’s talk about that for a sec. He basically walks right into a trap. There’s an obvious tipoff beforehand that he should have seen, but doesn’t. I actually slapped my forehead in exasperation. Oh well.
Dunst brings a high level of emotional honesty as Leigh, a woman who cares about Jeffrey, imperfections and all. She loves his generosity, but wishes he’d realize he doesn’t have to try so hard. She fares much better as Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station) as the fed-up ex-wife. Her character is never more than a cliché. She’s not the only one who gets the one-dimensional treatment in Roofman. Character development is something of an issue here. This includes Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) as Leigh’s heartless a**hole of a boss. What’s his deal other than a serious Napoleon complex? Stanfield goes underused in a thankless role as does Juno Temple (Killer Joe) as his girlfriend. Ben Mendelsohn (Ready Player One) and Uzo Aduba (In Treatment) as the pastor and his wife are nothing more than kindly Southern stereotypes.
I don’t think Roofman is a bad movie. It’s simply a seriously flawed one. It makes you think afterwards, but not in the way the makers hoped. It’s entertaining in the moment, but doesn’t stand to close scrutiny. It’s best not to think on it too much.
