ROOFMAN (2025) review

written by: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn
produced by: Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell Taylor, Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery & Dylan Sellers
directed by: Derek Cianfrance
rated: R (for language, nudity, and brief sexuality)
runtime: 126 min.
U.S. release date: October 10, 2025

First impressions from the trailer for “Roofman” suggest that the movie is a wacky comedy. It’s not. It’s being described as a crime comedy. After watching the latest from director Derek Cianfrance, which has a surprising amount of earnest emotion and thoughtfulness, I was left wishing there were no need for such descriptors or categories for films. The tagline, “Based on True Events and Terrible Decisions”, is enough of a draw. It conveys what it is, incorporates the wink-wink tone from the movie, while also maintaining the reality of the subject matter. Some may see “Roofman” as a departure from the unfairly labeled “misery movies” Cianfrance has made in the past, such as “Blue Valentine”, “The Place Beyond the Pines”, and “The Light Between the Oceans”, but I’ve considered those to be fascinating studies of the complexities of human nature.

While his last feature film was released in 2016, Cianfrance has remained busy with some noteworthy projects since then. For the 2019 drama, “Sound of Metal”, he collaborated with screenwriting brothers Darius and Abraham Marder and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The following year, Cianfrance adapted Wally Lamb’s 2019 novel I Know This Much Is True into a six-episode HBO miniseries of the same name, which he wrote (with Anya Epstein) and directed. Those were heavy dramas that fit alongside Cianfrance’s filmography, so it’s understandable how “Roofman” could be seen as something different for the filmmaker.

Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is a former U.S. Army Reserve soldier who has recently been separated from his wife, Talana (Melonie Diaz), and is doing his best to maintain a relationship with his young daughter, Becky (Alissa Marie Pearson), and her twin infant brothers. When we first meet this fractured family, it’s Becky’s birthday party, and she audibly hopes to receive a bicycle, only to wind up trying to politely hold back her disappointment when she opens a hand-me-down erector set from her father.  Jeffrey senses the awkwardness, and in his desperate desire to provide what his children want, he embarks on a series of bad decisions due to financial hardships.

He sets off on a series of robberies, in which he breaks into nearby McDonald’s locations by hacking away at rooftops late at night and robbing the morning crew at gunpoint when they arrive. The catch is he’s nice about it. In one of the first holdups we see Jeffrey commit, he politely asks two teenage workers and one young manager (Tony Revolori) to enter the walk-in refrigerator, assuring them they won’t be harmed and that he’s just there for the cash. He gives them time to grab their coats and even offers his own coat when he learns the manager doesn’t have one. He repeats this behavior at other McDonald’s locations, earning the nickname “Roofman” from local news and gaining a reputation as a thoughtful criminal.

Suspicions develop as Jeffrey brings home the things he thinks his family deserves or needs. His one true friend, Steve (an excellent LaKeith Stanfield), a fellow veteran, knows Jeffrey too well and does the math, connecting news reports to Jeffrey’s newly purchased big-screen TV. Steve may have inadvertently inspired Jeffrey’s criminal acts, encouraging his friend to tap into his “super power”, which he considers to be Jeffrey’s keen observational skills. He has a photographic memory and a mind that can figure out patterns, routines, and routes, which comes in handy as he robs 40 McDonald’s within two years. However, Steve also considers Jeffrey to be “the smartest dumb guy”, a stance which is supported when the police capture Jeffrey at Becky’s birthday party.

A judge sentences Jeffrey to 45 years in prison. While in prison, Jeffrey works in the metal shop, plotting an escape plan. Using his keen observational skills and overall friendliness, Jeffrey soon finds himself back out in the free world thanks to an outbound delivery truck route. Determined to remain hidden, the convict ends up living in a Toys “R” Us store run by Mitch (Peter Dinklage), initially occupying the ceiling and eventually creating a hiding spot inside a bike display on the main floor of the store. During this time, Jeffrey manages to meet store employee Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) at a church function, where he is warmly welcomed by the congregation, led by Pastor Ron Smith (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife, Eileen (Uzo Aduba). To explain why he’s suddenly shown up in the area, he tells everyone he’s “John Zorn,” working undercover for the government.

The newly-divorced Leigh is cautious at first, but is inevitably won over by Jeffrey’s kindness and charm. Unable to remain in touch with his biological family, Jeffrey warms his way into Leigh’s lonely life with an increasing amount of lies. He spends more time with Leigh and her two daughters, young Dee (Kennedy Moyer) and teenager Lindsay (Lily Collias, just as great here as she was in “Good One”), going out of his way to win them over with gifts. Of course, much of his money comes from stealing video games from the store and selling them for cash at the local pawn shop. With Leigh, Jeffrey can experience the kind of domestic balance that eluded him with his actual family, yet that inevitably proves to be tenuous at best. Clearly, staying local can only last so long. With Jeffrey’s lies catching up to him, he is forced to confront the consequences of his actions.

Cianfrance co-wrote the screenplay with Kirt Gunn, and the pair effectively tells this wild true story that occurred between 1998 and 2005 in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. The situations that unfold are comical because they’re wild, not because anyone is trying to be funny here. At its heart, Cianfrance allows the well-earned emotions of the story to emanate organically, delivering an unexpected amount of heart and authenticity. Despite the outrageous reality of the situations, the characters never fall into stereotypes, nor is any judgment placed upon them; instead, they are portrayed with nuance and grace, earning the movie a surprising emotional depth.

Tatum and Dunst, two actors who are too often unappreciated or overlooked, are excellent together. This is no surprise to anyone already aware of their capabilities. Their chemistry here is not only off the charts, but they deftly work off each other with such remarkable synchronicity. I really wasn’t expecting to feel for either Jeffrey or Leigh, but these two actors won me over. I’ve noticed Tatum’s potential to showcase his range in early roles, but this is the one where he’s truly doing it. In this role as Jeffrey, we see a man realizing the undeniable limitations of his relationship with Leigh. It’s a credit to Tatum and the screenplay that Jeffrey wasn’t treated as a joke. Dunst plays the heart and conscience of the story, also showing incredible range, especially as Leigh begins to realize who Jeffrey is.

They are also surrounded by an excellent supporting cast, especially Stanfield and Dinklage, both of whom make more out of their characters than would appear to be on the page. That’s more a credit to the performers than any slight to the material. Juno Temple shines in a small role as Steve’s girlfriend, Michelle, and I could honestly see a Short with just those two. There are also small but memorable roles from Emory Cohen (who worked on Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines”) as a Toys ‘R Us employee who needs to learn to stand up for himself and actor/comedian Jimmy O. Yang as a local used car salesman. Sure, some of them are here to provide laughs, but they still feel like real people. 

Cianfrance reunites with his “Blue Valentine” cinematographer Andrij Parekh to provide a visual style that adds a certain unexpected poetry to the storytelling. I look forward to revisiting the film to watch the performances again and see what I can pick up upon repeated viewings. “Roofman” is one of the rare instances where actual events are told with convincing dramatic weight, with appropriately balanced levity, delivering a surprising human tale.

NOTE: Check out my Interview with writer/director Derek Cianfrance here. 

RATING: ****