Roofman **** (2025, Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Peter Dinklage) – Classic Movie Review 13,767

Channing Tatum stars as the real-life spree robber Jeffrey Manchester who hides out in a toy store after escaping jail, in Derek Cianfrance’s compelling and suspenseful 2025 biopic Roofman.

Channing Tatum stars as the real-life spree robber Jeffrey Manchester, a former Army Ranger and struggling father turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants, entering by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname ‘Roofman’. After escaping prison, he lives secretly inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected, meanwhile falling for a divorced mom storeworker attracted by his easy charms…

Roofman is a sparkly, zesty and vivacious showcase for what Channing Tatum can do, and he’s exceptionally engaging and charming, giving an attention-grabbing full-on, stoked-up performance. He’s the film’s main attraction by a long way, really its sole raison d’etre. It’s an old-style star showcase, and Channing Tatum has turned himself into an old-style leading man. Derek Cianfrance tells this essentially sad tale with great exuberance and flair. It’s an unusual story, though it recalls Spielberg’s 2004 film The Terminal. Roofman is an extremely entertaining crime comedy drama to watch, a lot of fun with some tense or amusing (or both) set pieces, all well staged, some brilliantly well staged, but it leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste.

[Spoiler alert] Roofman is bitter sweet. Ultimately it ends up as more of a tragedy than a comedy, though it puts a brave face on defeat and disappointment. You desperately want a happy ending for Jeff, but you know there can’t be one. Well, there could have been. Jeff’s army friend Steve (LaKeith Stanfield) provides him an escape route, a one-way ticket to Venezuela, but he doesn’t take it. Kirsten Dunst makes something of the divorced mom, another sad figure just trying to get by, and Peter Dinklage amuses as the unpleasant toy store boss. It’s a tale of life’s losers with a positive spin. Hmmm.

Ben Mendelsohn is wasted as pastor Ron Smith, and nobody else in the cast has anything significant to do either. The characters need more flesh on their bones, but the film is already 126 minutes, way long enough. Because it is a real-life based story, the screenplay by Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn has the usual narrative and clarity hiccups, with some awkward time lapses as it tries to compress an unwieldy drama into a series of highlights. It’s easy to like Roofman though, and easy to like Tatum’s tremendous turn. Both film and star are admirable.

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

Roofman premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2025, and was released by Paramount Pictures on 10 October 2025 in the US.

It was shot in Gastonia, North Carolina, from October 24, 2024 to December 12, 2024.

Production: Limelight, High Frequency Entertainment, 51 Entertainment, Miramax.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,767

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