‘Roofman’ Review: Channing Tatum & Kirsten Dunst Shine in Derek Cianfrance’s Melancholy True-Crime Romance

Derek Cianfrance’s latest film, Roofman, doesn’t just give us another charming criminal story – it teaches us about looking at things differently. Plus, this movie hands Channing Tatum the role that could have a positively profound effect on his career. Roofman is a masterclass in tonal balance that’ll have you questioning everything you thought you knew about sympathy for the devil.

What is Roofman About?

Based on the wild true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a man who robbed over 40 McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, Roofman could have easily been another forgettable crime caper. Manchester didn’t just jump through the ceilings of fast food restaurants, he also lived in a Toys “R” Us, and carved a hideout room in an old Circuit City store.

Tatum Transforms From Magic Mike to Master Thief

Forget everything you think you know about ‘Magic Mike’ Channing Tatum. In Roofman, he strips away the cocky swagger we’ve come to expect and delivers something raw, vulnerable, and complex. This isn’t the guy from 21 Jump Street, or Step Up or even Magic Mike – this is an actor who’s finally found a role that matches his actual range. Tatum’s emotional performance as Briggs in Dog (2022) was a great precursor to this.

Jeffrey Manchester isn’t your typical movie criminal. He’s a homeless Army veteran who gives McDonald’s managers his jacket before locking them in walk-in freezers. He’s strategic enough to pull off dozens of crimes, but risks losing everything for love. And Tatum makes this work by finding true humanity underneath the criminal exterior.

Tatum embodies Jeffrey Manchester in the film – he’s simultaneously calculating and reckless, charming and dangerous, plus sympathetic and frustrating. It’s the kind of performance that makes you forget you’re watching a movie star and start believing you’re watching a real person make terrible decisions.

 

Cianfrance Knows How to Handle His Leading Men

Director Derek Cianfrance has a gift for getting career-best performances out of his actors. Just look at what he did with Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines. Now he’s working that same magic with Tatum, creating a partnership that feels like it could be this generation’s answer to classic director-star collaborations.

Roofman benefits from Cianfrance’s ability to balance genre expectations with emotional truth. This isn’t a slick heist movie or a romantic comedy – it’s something messier and more honest. The film acknowledges that Jeffrey’s story is both tragic and absurd, sweet and deeply troubling. That complexity would be a disaster in less skilled hands, but Cianfrance and Tatum navigate it with surprising grace.

Kirsten Dunst Brings Gravity to the Chaos

While Tatum gets the flashier role, Kirsten Dunst does the heavy lifting as Leigh Wainscott, the single mother who becomes Jeffrey’s unlikely love interest. Dunst has often been underrated as an actress, and Roofman gives her another chance to prove her worth. She grounds the film’s more outrageous elements without ever feeling like a wet blanket.

The chemistry between Tatum and Dunst is the film’s secret weapon. They work together like actors who actually understand their characters’ motivations, not just movie stars hitting their marks. Their relationship feels real even when the circumstances are completely bonkers, which is no small feat when your meet-cute involves stolen toys and a guy living in the walls of a toy store.

The True Crime Element That Actually Works

Roofman succeeds where so many other true crime adaptations fail because it doesn’t glamorize its subject or turn real tragedy into entertainment. Jeffrey Manchester’s story is inherently fascinating – a man who lived undetected in a Toys”R”Us for six months is the kind of thing that sounds too weird to be true – but the film never forgets that real people were affected by his actions.

The movie walks a careful line between sympathy and accountability. Yes, Jeffrey was a veteran struggling with his situation, and yes, he was surprisingly considerate for an armed robber. But he was still pointing guns at lots of minimum-wage workers and traumatizing people just trying to do their jobs. Roofman acknowledges both sides of that equation without trying to resolve the contradiction.

Why This Movie is More Impactful Than You’d Think

Roofman harkens back to the character-driven crime films of the 1970s. It’s the sort of mid-budget adult drama that Hollywood doesn’t often make anymore, and the film’s success could signal a return to more interesting filmmaking.

Roofman shows that audiences are interested in stories about complex, flawed people who live their lives in challenging circumstances. We don’t need our protagonists to be heroes or our criminals to be cartoons. Sometimes the most compelling characters are the ones who may exist in the gray areas, the people who are simultaneously sympathetic and often infuriating.

The Verdict: A Career-Defining Performance

Roofman isn’t perfect – its tonal juggling act occasionally wobbles, and some of the supporting characters do feel underdeveloped. But as a showcase for Channing Tatum’s dramatic chops, it’s undeniably successful. This is the performance that should finally silence anyone who still thinks he’s just a dancer who lucked into movie stardom.

Derek Cianfrance has crafted something special here: a crime film that works as both entertainment and emotional journey, a love story that acknowledges the impossibility of its own premise, and a showcase for two actors working at the top of their game. Roofman might not be the flashiest film of the year, but it’s certainly one of the most human.

If you’ve been sleeping on Channing Tatum’s dramatic potential, Roofman is your wake-up call. And also if you’re tired of cookie-cutter crime movies that don’t trust their audience to handle layered complexity, this film is exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Releases October 10.