ROOFMAN

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Storyline (warning: spoilers)

Roofman is based on a stranger-than-fiction tale. In the late ‘90s, North Carolina resident Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is struggling with life after being discharged from the military. A divorcee and a loving father of three girls, money beyond minimum wage is hard to come by. A poor birthday experience of his eldest daughter encourages him to use the advice from his friend and squadmate, Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), which consists of leveraging his brain and intricate observation skills to better his financial situation.
Jeffrey turns to crime, specifically, robbing McDonald’s across the nation by entering into the establishments by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. He then waits until morning to make out with the ill-gotten gains. The way he goes about it is unbelievably polite, with the victims having nary a bad thing to say about the way Jeffrey treated them. Nevertheless, robbing 45 McD’s eventually catches up to the “savant” in 2000.
Captured and sentenced to 45 years in prison, he immediately begins thinking of a way out. Four years later, his observation skills pay off as he manages to successfully escape prison, settling in Charlotte. Evading a manhunt, his new home base becomes a Toys R Us, a temporary solution before Steve can obtain a fake passport to get him out of the country. But until then, Jeffrey can’t help but notice things and people, and a sweet store employee named Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) will impact his present and inevitably his future.
Tatum is as charming as always, while also adding a layer of pathos to Manchester, who goes by the alias of John Zorn once he gets into a relationship with Leigh. Much of the depth of this character comes from Tatum’s ability to broadcast complex emotional states through just his eyes. Tatum’s undeniable charisma is such that, despite his “terrible choices,” we feel for. At the end, Manchester says he understands his actions hurt the people that he loved. He’s finally realised that they didn’t need him to buy them things, they just wanted his time.