Review: Roofman

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Derek Cianfrance's "Roofman" is a completely different vibe than the director's bleak dramas "Blue Valentine" and "The Place Beyond the Pines." Based on a true story about a criminal with a penchant for breaking into fast food chains and other stores through the roof, the picture comes close to being a romantic comedy but is just serious enough to avoid that categorization.

In the picture, Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey Manchester, a former U.S. Army Reserve officer who was known during his overseas missions to have had a good eye for scouting things. When he can barely afford to pay for his young daughter's birthday gifts, a stray comment from a friend (LaKeith Stanfield) gives him the idea to start robbing McDonald's in the Charlotte area in the early 2000s.

But during the robberies - which are just enough to buy him a large house and some gifts for his daughter as well as a Mariachi band for her birthday - Jeffrey isn't particularly fearsome. During one job, he feels sympathy for the McDonald's crew that he locks in the store refrigerator and gives his jacket to an employee who doesn't have one.

He's soon busted and lands in prison for a 45-year stint, a sentence that's a tad egregious. He comes up with a plan to escape, pulls it off, and ends up in a small North Carolina community, where he hides out in a Toys "R" Us and eventually ingratiates himself to the community after dropping off some toys he stole from the store to a toy drive. He also catches the eye of the woman, Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), running the toy drive, who also happens to be a Toys "R" Us employee.

Much like "Breaking Bad" or "The Americans," the film is one of those scenarios that we know can't last forever, so it seems like much of the suspense revolves around whether Jeffrey will get recognized by someone, whether Leigh will discover who he is, or whether he'll jeopardize the escape he's planning to see her one last time.

Tatum, a likable actor, is a good choice for the role. Although a criminal, Jeffrey is affable and affectionate toward Leigh and her two daughters. There's a funny scene in which he charms a group of women at a singles event sponsored by Leigh's church. During his robberies, he seems to feel guilty about scaring the people working in the stores he robs.

While "Roofman" might not be on par with Cianfrance's earliest films - "Blue Valentine" was a powerful albeit depressing love story and "The Place Beyond the Pines" was an ambitious crime epic - the picture is somewhat of a comeback after 2016's "The Light Between Oceans" fell flat and the director disappeared for almost a decade. "Roofman" isn't a grand statement - but rather an amusing true crime drama with comedic and romantic elements - but it's enjoyable nonetheless.