There is nothing more endearing than a cuddly criminal. Roofman, the story of a pleasant criminal, is played for mostly laughs while throwing in a few heart-tugging moments. Roofman is a crowd-pleaser. It did not please me that much, but I respect its efforts to try and do so.
Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) robs McDonald's franchises by literally going through the roof before they are open. His modus operandi is simple: greet the employees, put them in the storage locker and take the money. He does call the police to inform them of the robbery so that they can rescue the employees and not let them freeze to death. These robberies are to fund a better life for his daughter.
They also involve a weapon. He is finally caught after fleeing his daughter's birthday party. Ending up with a charge of kidnapping due to having locked up the McDonald's staff, he is sentenced to 45 years in prison. Some years later, Manchester engineers a daring escape and finds himself in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manchester wants to get out of the country. His fellow former 82nd Airbourne Division veteran Steve (LaKeith Stanfield) can hook him up with a fake passport and identity but he's out of the country himself right now.
Manchester has managed to avoid the police, but he has to find a hideout until Steve returns. Fortunately for him, there is a Toys R Us that he manages to hide in undetected. He soon starts making the place his home. He taps into the store security system to hide his presence. He eats and bathes at whatever is available. He also hooks up his own surveillance system and ends up looking into the lives of the employees.
Among those employees is Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a churchgoing divorcee with two daughters. Seeing how her jerk of a manager Mitch (Peter Dinklage) won't accommodate her schedule or provide toys for a church drive, Manchester will do both himself. Circumstances cause Manchester to be invited into Leigh's church, headed by Pastor Ron (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife Eileen (Uzo Aduba). Now calling himself John Zorn, he and Leigh eventually begin a romance. "John" integrates himself into both the church and Leigh's bed. He also starts becoming part of Leigh's family.
All good things, though, have to end, when Mitch walks in on a nude Jeffrey (him still unfinished with his bathing). As Christmas comes closer, Jeffrey/John finds himself in a curious set of circumstances. Will he find the $50,000 to buy his fake passport and identity papers? Will he abandon Leigh? Will he get caught?
After finishing Roofman (which for full disclosure I saw at a secret screening) I was reminded of another true-life story of a criminal who busts out of prison, hoodwinks others and eventually is caught. I do not think that people remember I Love You, Phillip Morris today. I also doubt that director Derek Cianfrance (who cowrote the screenplay with Kirt Gunn) was attempting to draw inspiration from that movie. However, my mind kept going to how both I Love You, Phillip Morris and Roofman play on similar themes.
Both films are based on true stories that are outlandish but built on fact. Both have a score that emphasizes the comedy. Both involve criminals who are motivated, in part, to provide a more luxurious life for those they love. Both have protagonists that we are meant to empathize with a habitual criminal. Here is where I have a minor issue with Roofman.
The film focuses on how well-mannered he is when stealing. It seems pretty blasé about how Manchester is a habitual criminal. Put aside the deception he perpetrates on Leigh, her children and the congregation. He stole from 45+ businesses. He hocked various games to pay for an unwitting Leigh, down to buying her older daughter Lindsey (Lily Collias) a car. He both threatened the Toys R Us staff and punched the man picking up the store's deposit, who he would have left on the floor bleeding profusely. He damaged property. He blew up a dentist office to try and cover his tracks.
Somehow, I cannot find it in my heart to see Jeffrey Manchester/John Zorn to be a good guy. He may have been a very nice criminal. He was still a criminal. Some may have chuckled at his bungling when breaking into a spa instead of the pawn shop that he was aiming for. I kept wondering what the spa owners or poor dentist did to deserve such treatment from this nice guy.
I think Durst was better as Leigh, but not by much. At times, especially with Dinklage, Durst felt almost robotic, playing at a put-upon employee but not convincing me that she was a put-upon employee.
I can give grudging credit that Roofman had a somewhat more positive portrayal of Christians than most films. I do not know if pastors encourage their congregants to jump into bed with people whom they are not married to. It does feel a bit of a lost opportunity that Leigh's faith was not more explored, nor was Jeffery/John's reaction to it. This church apparently consisted of nothing but singing and eating. Yet I digress.
I was disappointed that Dinklage's Mitch was nothing more than a cliched jerk boss. I would have thought better if he had been allowed to be a bit more nuance rather than just be someone that belittles everyone around him. It was nice to see Ben Mendelsohn play something other than a villain as the pastor, though he and Uzo Aduba seemed to be playing more caricatures than people. Same goes for LaKeith Stanfield. Other elements, such as Emory Cohen's bullied Toys R Us employee Otis, were underused.
I think that is a reason why I was not as enthused about Roofman as others. I did not see people. I saw caricatures. Still, I figure that Roofman the movie had its heart in the right place. I cannot fully embrace a film that wants me to like a criminal no matter how outwardly charming and pleasant he appears. Nonetheless, Roofman did please the audience, so while crime does not pay, it does appear enjoyable.
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