{"id":13183,"date":"2025-10-07T23:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=13183"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:52:13","slug":"roofman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/10\/07\/roofman\/","title":{"rendered":"Roofman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Roofman <\/strong>(2025)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paramount\/Comedy-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 126 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, nudity and brief sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Derek Cianfrance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Christopher Bear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Andrij Parekh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 10, 2025 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Has 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\u2019s an apt description of my experience watching Roofman<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jeffrey has had a hard time of it since his discharge from the Army. He\u2019s unemployed, divorced and barely getting by financially. He can\u2019t 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 \u201csuperpower\u201d by his only friend, fellow vet Steve (Stanfield, Get Out).<\/p>\n

\u00a0In one of his trademark bad choices, Jeffrey uses these skills to kick-start a career in crime. He breaks into McDonald\u2019s restaurants through the roofs, waits for the morning staff to arrive and then cleans out the safe. All the while, he\u2019s polite and genial even giving his coat to a manager so he doesn\u2019t freeze when he locks the employees in the freezer. He manages to hit 45 locations before he\u2019s caught and sentenced to 45 years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jeffrey\u2019s skills come in handy on the inside. He watches and watches until he has the prison\u2019s 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 \u201cR\u201d Us. Steve tells him to lie low for a few weeks until the heat dies down. Of course, that\u2019s NOT what Jeffrey does. He\u2019s not too bright.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jeffrey 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\u2019s how he discovers Leigh (Dunst, Civil War), an employee and divorced mother of two just trying to get by. Naturally, it\u2019s enough to make Jeffrey come out of hiding and start a romantic relationship with the woman.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Okay, here\u2019s 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\u2019s church friends, one of whom is retired law enforcement. You mean to tell me absolutely nobody recognizes him?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Okay, 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\u2019t you think it might arouse the suspicion of the shop owner? Where did this guy get all these brand new games? Also, doesn\u2019t anybody at Toys \u201cR\u201d Us notice the missing inventory? Surely it would get the attention of somebody at corporate. It makes me wonder how much of Roofman<\/strong> is actually true. I understand that writer-director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) took dramatic license in telling the story of Roofman. He wouldn\u2019t be the first filmmaker to do this. I also don\u2019t doubt that Jeffrey is as dim as Tatum portrays him. I just find certain aspects of the film hard to swallow.<\/p>\n

\u00a0That\u2019s not the movie\u2019s only flaw. Cianfrance really struggles with tone. Looking at the trailer (which I\u2019ve seen at least 30 times), you would think Roofman<\/strong> is a comedy caper. It\u2019s NOT. It has comedic elements, but it\u2019s not really that. It isn\u2019t 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\u2019s steadiest when it shows the developing relationship between Jeffrey, Leigh and her daughters, one of them an \u201cemotionally unavailable\u201d teen (Collias, Good One). Aside from that, Roofman <\/strong>is a movie in search of an identity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0On the upside, Tatum delivers one of his best performances. He\u2019s 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\u2019s a miracle he\u2019s not apprehended sooner. Let\u2019s talk about that for a sec. He basically walks right into a trap. There\u2019s an obvious tipoff beforehand that he should have seen, but doesn\u2019t. I actually slapped my forehead in exasperation. Oh well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dunst 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\u2019d realize he doesn\u2019t 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 clich\u00e9. She\u2019s not the only one who gets the one-dimensional treatment in Roofman<\/strong>. Character development is something of an issue here. This includes Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) as Leigh\u2019s heartless a**hole of a boss. What\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I don\u2019t think Roofman<\/strong> is a bad movie. It\u2019s simply a seriously flawed one. It makes you think afterwards, but not in the way the makers hoped. It\u2019s entertaining in the moment, but doesn\u2019t stand to close scrutiny. It\u2019s best not to think on it too much.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roofman (2025)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paramount\/Comedy-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 126 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, nudity and brief sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Derek Cianfrance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Christopher Bear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Andrij Parekh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 10, 2025 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Lakeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Peter Dinklage, Melonie Diaz, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Kennedy Moyer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Roofman-POSTER.jpg?fit=620%2C918&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13183"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13191,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13183\/revisions\/13191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}