What does it take to let down your walls? And, sometimes, when you need some money, to bring down the roof?
Roofman, based on a true story, stars Channing Tatum as Jeffery Manchester, a divorced US army veteran whose inability to hold down a normal job drives him further and further away from his family. But savant-like observation skills leads to a spree of McDonald’s robberies (45!), which lands him in prison, which he escapes—and then the story actually starts.
Channing Tatum has always dived in headfirst into his roles, and Roofman is no exception. His superpower is being able to look like that and still effuse pure pity—a golden retriever that got caught in the rain, all sad and soppy. A large part of the movie’s dramatic tension is held up by just how well Tatum radiates indecisiveness and discomfort.
If that wasn’t a tough enough job for him, much of the action and comedy also centers on him. He’s the one cracking the jokes. He’s the one putting his sometimes-naked body on the line.
Next on the list of a weirdly-stacked cast is Kirsten Dunst, whose Leigh Wainscott is disarmingly sweet and charming. Dunst is what slows down the story—in a good way!—and lets us sees the more sensitive side of Tatum’s Jeffrey Manchester. These two also have solid, if not electrifying chemistry, but I think that’s kind of the point. Wainscott represents stability and sanity, a stark contrast to Manchester’s… instability and possible insanity.
Also, please don’t watch the trailer(s). Firstly, they are cut to make the movie look comedic, and is a poor representation of the movie’s tone. It would be like calling Captain America: Civil War a comedy.
Secondly, they spoil every decision that Jeffrey Manchester makes—which, to be fair, is based on a true story—and you don’t have to know that.
Thirdly, I have a gripe with Jeffrey’s characterisation in the movie. If you’ve gone ahead and watched the trailer anyway, I feel comfortable with talking about a plot point that the trailer has no qualms about revealing.
Jeffrey (John) lives in a Toys”R”Us for most of the movie. He sets up baby monitors to watch the employees at work, while he’s free to roam around at night because he managed to stop the CCTVs recording—a nice little comedic juxtaposition. The thing is, that monitoring becomes less a security necessity—because nobody is doing any investigating—but becomes a way to gain insight into Leigh Wainscott’s life.
This is stalking. It’s uncomfortable to watch. Their meet-cute at a church is only possible because Jeffrey found out about a toy drive on the cameras. He’s able to spend more time with Leigh because he quite literally manipulates her time sheet at work. It also throws a shadow over the whole feel-good element of the story where–oh of course!–Jeffery’s actually a nice guy! He repairs the relationship between Leigh and her emotionally unavailable daughter!
This plot is based on a true story, and I don’t want to speculate on the actual Jeffrey Manchester. But Roofman’s Jeffery Manchester? I really can’t tell what’s intentional characterisation and what’s just a blasé attitude towards manipulative, sociopathic behaviour. Maybe it’s a little bit of both. Director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance perhaps couldn’t completely stave away his desire to introduce a darker undertone to his main character.
In conclusion—I guess this qualifies as a feel-good movie?