Paramount Pictures
This article contains spoilers for “Roofman.”
The critical thing to remember about trailers and other marketing material is that it’s not a reflection of the actual movie’s quality. Distributors have to promote their titles in a way that reaches the broadest possible audience, and “Roofman” is an excellent example of how a by-the-numbers campaign can obscure one of the year’s greatest surprises. The new film from Derek Cianfrance is based on the crazy true story of Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former US Army soldier who became known as the Rooftop Robber after breaking into restaurants like McDonald’s from up above. After escaping from prison, Jeffrey created a secret little nook for himself in a Toys “R” Us for months, unbeknownst to the employees. The trailers reflect this angle of the story by presenting the film as a wild crime comedy. Even the posters emphasize Tatum playing with the store’s childlike luxuries. Akin to the secretly brilliant marketing campaign of “One Battle After Another,” it presents an easy in for casual moviegoers, only to hit them with a much more emotionally nuanced film.
“Roofman” is not quite as soul-drainingly somber as Cianfrance’s other works, like “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines.” In fact, it can be quite funny at times. But I wouldn’t really classify this as a comedy. It’s a touching and achingly sad drama about the systemic factors that keep a kind-hearted criminal trapped in a cycle of self-destruction. Tatum gives a career-best performance here that makes you root for Jeffrey (under the alias John Zorn) even when he keeps making decisions that exacerbate his predicament. We witness him lose access to his three young children before he even makes it to the Toys “R” Us.
Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman is a touching and surprisingly melancholic drama
Paramount Pictures
Tatum is truly phenomenal in “Roofman,” as we become intimately aware of Jeffrey’s process to stay on his toes. He’s an incredibly smart and charming man who’s able to take advantage of things no one else can see and make his moves accordingly. The whole “big kid in a toy store” approach offers a tinge of hope when Jeffrey starts to fall for Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst), a Toys “R” Us employee who has to juggle her work duties amid being a single mom who has virtually no time to spend with her children. Dunst gives an equally warm, yet heartbreaking performance as Tatum. This is a character who so easily could have come off as an easy caricature, given that she’s also an avid churchgoer who runs the charity toy drive, but Dunst provides her with such an emotional grounding.
Leigh and Jeffrey’s central relationship hurts that much more when you view it through the fatalistic outcome it’s naturally destined to arrive at. The screenplay, penned by Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn, deftly infuses an impenetrable melancholy that’s always present during their courtship. There’s a moment between Tatum and Dunst in a church that makes me well up just thinking about it.
“Roofman” was shot by cinematographer Andrij Parekh on 35mm film, so not only does the film retain Cianfrance’s trademark naturalism, it also looks gorgeous. I have nothing against shooting on digital, but it’s always heartening to see a movie from a major studio with actual texture on actors’ faces. All these effective long shots illustrate Jeffrey’s paranoia. Shooting on film also lends an added weight to its early 2000s period setting and the many recognizable brands within.
Roofman brilliantly weaponizes nostalgic iconographies
Paramount Pictures
It’s nearly impossible to tell this story without directly acknowledging the corporate entities that the real Jeffrey broke into. He hit everything from KFCs to Burger Kings. The “Roofman” crew took painstaking accuracy as to what these places would look like if they were yanked out of a 2004 time capsule, which helps sell its authenticity. The further Jeffrey ingrains himself into Leigh’s life, as well as the welcoming community, the more his nostalgic Toys “R” Us crash pad becomes a prison by any other name.Â
One of the saddest moments in “Roofman” takes place at Jeffrey’s court hearing for the McDonald’s robberies, where, despite his kindness and non-violent actions, he’s sentenced to 45 years in jail. He becomes a much different prisoner of these corporations. Jeffrey is stuck in a cycle of always trying to buy/give things from the brands he loots as a way to get closer to the Wainscott family, when his presence is considered more than enough. Even the climactic robbery inside the Toys “R” Us is really sad and upsetting. That comedic beat in the trailer of Peter Dinklage’s Mitch getting blasted in the face with a dye packet is not very funny in its proper context.
While “Roofman” will make you laugh, it never loses sight of the heart and tragedy at the center of an individual who played his hand as best he could with the cards he was dealt. It’s undoubtedly one of the year’s best so far.
“Roofman” is now playing in theaters nationwide.