At first, I didn’t have any interest in watching the movie Roofman. Especially after seeing the first trailer about it, I assumed this movie was going to be a comedy-action movie with a hint of romance between the two main characters. Which sounds like a good movie to watch to zone out a bit, right? I was so wrong about this movie; it was much deeper than being just an action-comedy. The movie emphasized the themes of getting a second chance in life, starting over, and making decisions that’ll change your future.
This movie revolves around a man named Jeffrey Manchester, who is played by Channing Tatum, an army veteran, struggling father, and professional thief. He received the name “roofman” because he would cut holes through the roofs of different McDonald’s and rob them. After escaping prison, he finds sanctuary in a local Toys “R” Us (R.I.P) for months. Until, he falls in love with Leigh, played by Kirsten Dunst, a divorced mother with two daughters. After falling in love, he begins to untangle his double life, starting a tense game of cat and mouse with the police. That’s all I will put as a recap about this movie, I don’t want to give too much away for a review.
Now, how did I feel about this movie? As said before, I think this film really demonstrated an important message of getting a second chance in life. From seeing Tatum’s character be sent to prison, escaping, and then falling in love all throughout the movie was very fascinating and intense. Also, seeing him use different tools within the Toys “R” Us and being able to live off of being in the store for months was absolutely something I thought no one could really pull off. Besides the story aspect of the movie, the performances were amazing. Tatum’s range throughout the movie was astounding, especially during the intense parts. He really had my emotions going up and down throughout the entire movie. Besides Tatum, I also really liked Dunst’s performance as well. I knew she was a great actress from her previous work, but I think her performance in this movie was amazing. Although, what really affected me the most while watching this movie was the ending. The plot twist at the end of the film made me audibly gasp while watching and had me clutching my pearls.
The craziest plot twist of this movie wasn’t the ending, but it’s the fact that this movie was based off of a true story. That’s right, Tatum’s character, Jeffrey Manchester, is an actual man who has gone through the events of the movie. During the credits, there was a short message about the status of the actual Manchester since. Overall, this movie was very interesting and I think more people should have a look into it. My Letterboxd rating for this movie would be four and a half stars out of five.