Roofman is a fun and poignant movie that proves life can indeed be stranger than fiction. Add it to your list.
Former Army Ranger Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is having trouble adjusting to life as a civilian. With a wife and three children to look after, he needs money, but that’s easier said than done.
In the arm,y he was known for his observational skills, and one day while eating at a McDonald’s restaurant he noticed a pattern, the takings get collected at the same time. We’re talking hundreds of dollars, and the routine was repeated across the whole store network.
Desperate, one night Manchester cuts a hole in the roof of a McDonald’s store, steals the cash and gets away with it. Forty-five stores later, his exploits feature on the news and he becomes known as Roofman.
The family moves to a bigger home and wants for nothing, but the law eventually catches up with Manchester and he goes to prison.
By keeping his head down and observing the monotonous routine of prison life he again notices a pattern and is able to escape.
On the run, he hunkers down living inside a Toys “R” Us. Thanks to a series of baby monitors he spends his days watching life inside the story. He even manages to move in and out of the store without being detected.
But then he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom who works in the store and stands up to the bullying boss Mitch (Peter Dinklage). As their lives entwine his starts to unravel.
At the end of the movie, you get to see the real Roofman, which reiterates that life can be stranger than fiction. Well worth staying for. Watching the movie you tend to assume there has been some poetic license, but in a neat trick some of the people in the real-life saga were cast in the story e.g. the real prison truckdriver, girlfriend Leigh, pastor, arresting officer and SWAT officer all had cameos;
The movie is about finding your super power and those sliding door moments. It also reminds us that ex-service men need more help to assimilate into real life.
Channing Tatum is perfect for this man-child role and it’s a bonus to see Ben Mendelsen and Peter Dinklage in the mix too.
For more information, go to Luna Cinema starts Oct 16
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