Film Review | Crime-Com Time

Channing Tatum has, by now, amassed a dense filmography going back 20 years, and worked with the lofty likes of Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh. But he is still remembered primarily as the hunky, appealing and a-peeling epicenter and star of the Magic Mike franchise. In these films, he deftly juggled character elements of the morally questionable world of professional stripping (an echo of Tatum’s actual one-time gig in Florida, before movie stardom) and a kindhearted personality beneath the squalor.

In a sense, Tatum’s role as the protagonist in the comedy/drama/kindly crime caper Roofman also represents the juxtaposition of good guy/bad guy duality, but in a more severe way. Here, in a rightfully celebrated performance that gives Tatum the juicy starring platform he deserves, he plays the real-life, friendly criminal Jeffrey Manchester, a veteran who falls into a life of robbery in the absence of other suitable work.

We first meet his character up on the roof, tools in hand, hacking his way inside a McDonald’s, as a way of “going to work” to feed and pamper his family. Once confronting the employees who will give him access to cash on hand, he’s the politest bogeyman imaginable, apologetic while dishing out his disservice with a smile.  

Hey, a guy’s gotta make a living. 

Much of the film takes place in the unorthodox scenario of a cunning fugitive decamping in a secret corner and microcosmic hideout of a Toys R Us. Here, he observes the inner workings of the store (including the nasty machinations of the boss man played by a salty and snide Peter Dinklage) and fatefully encounters the character played by Kirsten Dunst (another actor who deserves a break like this). Once she enters the story, and Manchester’s heart, Roofman transforms into a rare crime film with romance blooming in the second act. Suddenly, his inner moral compass guides him into a church-going straight life, at least on the surface. 

Call it a crime-com, and a unique twist on the old formula of a love affair in which one party hides a secret life, only to reveal the truth in the late stage of the film. In this case, crime doesn’t pay, but love prevails nonetheless, in its way.

Despite the feel-good elements, the film benefits from filmic intelligence along its path, thanks to the smart and nimble direction of Derek Cianfrance. His best films, the powerful and intimate Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, and as co-writer for Sound of Metal, steer clear of anything resembling feel-good qualities. This time out, Cianfrance wisely deals with this oddball and truth-based morality story with an appreciation for the absurdity of the tale, and the built-in paradox of its cocktail mix of goodness and evil.

At one point late in the film, Manchester’s friend and ally-in-crime — while forging a new passport and identity — tells Jeffrey, “You got the calculations down, but you’re goofy.” True that: The old Tatum double-identity is back in action, warming up the screen with his special brand of tough and tender charms. 

View trailer here.