- Channing Tatum, Peter Dinklage, Juno Temple, Kirsten Dunst
- October 17th 2025
- 126
- Derek Cianfrance
Channing Tatum plays a real-life escaped convict who hides out in a Toys “R” Us shop for several months.
Some real-life crime stories are so ridiculous that you think they couldn’t possibly be true. Roofman, about the criminal Jeffrey Manchester, is a prime example of one of those unbelievable true stories.
Directed by Derek Cianfrance, this comedy-drama stars Channing Tatum as Manchester, who was sent to prison for robbing a series of McDonald’s restaurants via the roof, hence his nickname.
After four years behind bars, Manchester escapes from prison and goes on the run. With the police on his tail, Manchester hides inside a Toys “R” Us in Charlotte, North Carolina, while he waits for his friend, Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), to make him a fake passport.
However, the wait is longer than he expects, and he ends up living in the toy shop for several months, finding a secret spot to use as his bedroom.
Manchester eventually gets restless and starts to venture outside instead of being sensible and lying low, and tries to make a new life for himself with Toys “R” Us employee Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) and her daughters Lindsay (Lily Collias) and Dee (Kennedy Moyer).
Roofman is an entertaining all-rounder that amps up the absurdity of Manchester’s decisions. The film has plenty of heart and hilarious laugh-out-loud moments, including watching Tatum living it up in the toy shop overnight, skating around the store, gorging himself on M&Ms and sleeping in a Spider-Man bed.
However, this isn’t an all-out comedy because Cianfrance never forgets that Manchester is a real criminal who is guilty of serious crimes, even though he was apparently nice and polite to his victims while committing them.
Tatum is the perfect choice for Manchester because he’s not afraid of being silly on camera and committing to the physical comedy. He also has a likeable, approachable demeanour and is able to hit the more heartfelt beats and play someone who is both smart and resourceful yet incredibly stupid.
He is surrounded by an excellent support cast featuring the always-excellent Dunst as the no-nonsense single mum, Peter Dinklage as her horrible boss, and Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba as quirky leaders of her church.
After making films like Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, it’s a refreshing change of pace for Cianfrance to release something so easy, lighthearted and enjoyable. What a mind-blowing story!
In cinemas from Friday 17th October.
By Hannah Wales.
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