In the late 1990's, Jeffrey Manchester robbed about 50 McDonald's restaurants. His modus operandi was to hack through the roof of the store in the middle of the night, then wait inside to rob the store at gunpoint when the employees showed up the next morning. His unique mode of entry made him famous as “Roofman”. Of course, he eventually got caught, but he managed to escape from prison to the town of Charlotte, NC, where he hid out in a Toy's R Us store. He made himself a hidden nest where he slept during the day, coming out at night for food and exercise. He wound up living there secretly for 6 months, dating a local woman and joining her church.
It's no surprise someone would make a movie out of this story. What does surprise me is that writer/director Derek Cianfrance made such a hackneyed, predictable film out of this wild tale, and assembled an all-star cast to do it. Channing Tatum plays Manchester, Kirsten Dunst plays the love interest, and they get support from LaKeith Stanfield, Peter Dinklage, and Juno Temple. While the cast is talented and game, the script is no great accomplishment. The only surprising story elements are the ones that come from Manchester's real-life antics. The narrative glue that Cianfrance inserts to turn the story into a 2 hour movie is treacly and predictable. You can see every plot point coming a mile away.
“Roofman” does offer something we don't see a lot in film, namely people attending church regularly. It's also a very family-friendly movie, despite its R rating (presumably because we witness a couple of armed robberies and Channing Tatum's naked butt.) For these reasons, I suspect the film will find an audience, and good for 'em! Not everybody wants to watch art movies about gay cowboys eating pudding (If you know, you know.)
2.5 stars out of 5
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