Florida Man or Roofman, not sure which one is crazier. In the late 90’s, North Carolina resident Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is struggling with life after being discharged from the military. A divorcee and a loving father of three girls, money beyond minimum wage is hard to come by. A poor birthday experience of his eldest daughter encourages him to use the advice from his friend and squadmate, Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), which consists of leveraging his brain and intricate observation skills to better his financial situation.

Jeffrey turns to crime, specifically, robbing McDonald’s across the nation by entering into the establishments via the rooftop and waiting until morning to make out with the ill-gotten gains. The way he goes about it is unbelievably polite, with the victims having nary a bad thing to say about the way Jeffrey treated them. Nevertheless, robbing 45 McD’s eventually catches up to the “savant” in 2000.

Captured and sentenced to 45 years in prison, he immediately begins thinking of a way out. Four years later, his observation skills pay off as he manages to successfully escape prison, settling in Charlotte. Evading a manhunt, his new home base becomes a Toys R Us, a temporary solution before Steve can obtain a fake passport to get him out of the country. But until then, Jeffrey can’t help but notice things and people, and a sweet store employee named Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) will impact his present and inevitably his future.

If the events of Roofman were not real, it would be hard to take the movie seriously with its bizarre decisions characters make and the incomprehensible ways its subject goes undetected living a pretty public life post-prison escape. But the fact that the events are real and the Roofman movie largely adheres to what actually happened makes for a movie that, lifted by great cast work and arguably a career-best performance from Tatum, lets viewers have some fun and maybe even be moved along the way.

Roofman is lighter fare compared to what writer/director Derek Cianfrance typically tends to make. Nostalgia is a big driver here, particularly with anyone who had young kinds or who was coming of age during 1998-2004. The aforementioned McDonald’s (and corresponding dirt cheap prices) and Toys R Us along with the inserts of Blockbuster Video, Xboxes, PS2s, and Gamecubes establish setting. Outside of those markers, Cianfrance and cinematographer Andrij Parekh shoot the film on 35mm, intentionally giving it a less crisp feel. In another movie, the piano-based score would probably stick out as a negative, but paired with the choice to use narration, the two decisions (especially Tatum as narrator) create a positive when thinking about the drama and meditative parts of the feature.

Roofman’s trailer sets itself up as a zany crime comedy caper, and there are certainly elements of that, as there is something indubitably hilarious about the way the title character makes his living and avoids capture. That said, Roofman carries surprising depth. Cianfrance and co-writer Kirt Gunn balance the tones early on with a gradual build towards a dramatic climax and a satisfying epilogue of sorts. The research done by speaking with the real life Manchester behind bars pays dividends in imbuing the film with more of the why he chooses to do what he does. As importantly, Manchester is shown to be a complex character; equally brilliant to pull off his one man heists…and unbelievably inept too when it comes to getting attached at the wrong time. Roofman really has no reason to be over two hours though, with scenes such as Manchester teaching Leigh’s oldest how to drive adding little in the way of story momentum or character evolution.

A bevy of strong actors and actresses show up in Roofman, from the always hypnotic Stanfield to the oft-villanous Ben Mendelsohn and the diminutive Peter Dinklage. However, the movie turns out to be a strong vehicle for Tatum to showcase his evolving skillset. 2025 marks 20 years that Channing Tatum has been appearing in features, and typically, the actor has thrived on playing attractive and somewhat dopey individuals. Manchester is kind of dopey also, but extremely bright, and well-intentioned yet cloying in his emotional affection and desperation for human connection. Tatum juggles all of these aspects deftly.

Dunst continues to excel in the 2020s too. Her work continues to rarely be that showy but extremely naturalistic. She’s one of the finest thespians who have the ability to blend into anything and be realistic. The chemistry she and Tatum share drives the drama, and one scene in particular when the puzzle pieces connect and the “eureka” moment happens in earnest asks a lot of her and Tatum to say a lot minus dialogue.

Roofman surprised me. I expected to be entertained and have a couple of laughs along the way, but I didn’t expect to be so immersed in its lead character or where the story would go, even as it’s not hard to see the sketch of the way it’ll end. Perhaps the biggest recommendation for Roofman is the fact that upon conclusion, the thought I sometimes get of feeling that I could have learned as much looking up the subject in question on Wikipedia and being just as satisfied never came into my mind during Roofman, and definitely not after concluding it.

B+

Photo credits go to impawards.com, rottentomates.com, joblo.com, and deadline.com.