Reviewed on 6th September at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival – Gala Presentations, 126 Mins.
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Music, Romance
Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang and Peter Dinklage
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Music, Romance
Director: Derek Cianfrance
In Irish Cinemas: 17th October 2025
After a string of rooftop break-ins at McDonald’s outlets, ex–Army vet Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) pulls off one last outrageous feat: escaping from prison and vanishing inside a North Carolina Toys “R” Us.
It sounds like something a Hollywood screenwriter might dream up, yet Roofman, Derek Cianfrance’s latest film, springs from a true story almost too bizarre to believe. Manchester’s real-life crime spree through the late ’90s and early 2000s saw him rob over forty McDonald’s restaurants by cutting through their ceilings, before slipping out of prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck. His months-long hideout inside a toy store is the stuff of legend, a tale both absurd and strangely moving, tailor-made for Cianfrance’s signature blend of grit and humanity.
Manchester isn’t your typical criminal. He’s disarmingly polite, greeting startled McDonald’s staff with an enthusiastic “Good morning, team!” even as he locks them in the freezer. He’s clever, eccentric, and oddly endearing, a man whose military discipline and razor-sharp observation skills turn to mischief once he’s cut loose from the system. His crimes may be outrageous, but there’s always a flicker of kindness behind them. The film gradually peels back the layers of Jeffrey’s charm to reveal something rawer: a desperate need to matter, to care, to be seen. His supposed motives for providing for his family start simple, but Cianfrance’s script turns them into something far more poignant.
Tatum gives a career-best performance here. He captures Jeffrey’s contradiction perfectly, a charismatic goofball with the heart of a lost boy. He’s funny, heartbreaking, and magnetic all at once, finding the sweet spot between comedy and tragedy. His chemistry with Kirsten Dunst, who plays Leigh, a recently divorced mother unaware of his true identity, is profoundly affecting. Their relationship unfolds with an easy, lived-in warmth, and the way Tatum looks at her with shy awe and aching sincerity makes the romance feel both magical and doomed.
The Toys “R” Us sequences deliver plenty of offbeat delights: Jeffrey zooming down aisles on Heelys, rigging baby monitors into makeshift spy cams, and accidentally flashing Peter Dinklage’s hilariously pompous store manager, Mitch. Yet beneath the humour, Cianfrance weaves something richer, a story about loneliness, reinvention, and the aching desire to remain a child in a world that demands you grow up. Shot on 35mm with a nostalgic, bittersweet score, Roofman feels like a forgotten dream from the early 2000s, wistful, strange, and utterly sincere.
With Roofman, Derek Cianfrance transforms an unbelievably accurate crime tale into a soulful, darkly funny portrait of human longing. It’s as compassionate as it is entertaining and anchored by one of Channing Tatum’s most surprising, tender performances. Expect laughter, heartbreak, and a wave of millennial nostalgia you won’t want to end.
Overall: 7.5/10
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