Flasz On Film

Synopsis: A divorced Army veteran (Channing Tatum) with a gift for observation turns to an audacious string of rooftop burglaries, robbing fast-food restaurants with a mix of precision and disarming politeness. After escaping prison, he hides inside a Toys “R” Us, living undetected for months while forming a fragile bond with a single mother (Kirsten Dunst) unaware of his identity.  

It is well recognized that truth can be stranger than fiction. Life can write some truly weird stories. And some of those life-written weird stories might just be weird enough to force a veteran indie auteur out of hiding.  

After nearly a decade since his last completed feature film (The Light Between Oceans), Derek Cianfrance has dusted off his director’s chair to put together a movie about Jeffrey Manchester, a real-life veteran-turned-robber who spent several months hiding in a toy shop, forged a fake identity and almost started his life anew while on the run from the law. I suppose it was more than enough to compel this filmmaker to put a screenplay together (in collaboration with Kirt Gunn). Though, the real question was why the director of such hard-hitting dramatic gems like Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines and the aforementioned The Light Between Oceans) would throw his weight behind a movie that, superficially, looks like a decent enough material for an action comedy for someone like Steven Soderbergh to have a punt at. Like Logan Lucky.  

However, there’s something profound about the way Cianfrance treats this story about a guy who hides inside a toy shop and steals peanut M&Ms to such an extent that he develops cavities in most of his teeth that separates Roofman from other fare of similar extraction. It’s his highly personal perspective on the plight of troubled men, which he has explored in his previous works, which also includes Sound of Metal (that originated from his scrapped project titled Metalhead) as well as his TV miniseries I Know This Much Is True.  

In Roofman, the filmmaker finds resonance with the titular character of Jeff Manchester, a man who is equally a genius and a completely ill-equipped idiot who is totally unable to build a successful life based on obeying the rules of the game we all have to play, and whose entire drive comes from his desire to be a good dad and a partner. But somehow, he never bets the right horse or makes the right decision. Thus, the entire movie develops an incredibly soulful tone of bittersweet closeness because despite his many shortcomings—and likely owing to Channing Tatum’s natural relatability—this guy who robs shops and stacks lies upon lies while deceiving literally everyone he ever encounters, Manchester’s story does not look like a true crime docudrama and more like an underdog redemption story.  

Consequently, Cianfrance’s movie is both uncharacteristically light on its feet—and anyone who has ever seen Blue Valentine or The Place Beyond the Pines would attest to the stark tonal difference between Roofman and director’s previous exploits—and incredibly solemn, all at the same time. Its bitterness is interlaced with its sweetness as opposed to being staggered. It is as though the movie wanted us to always remember its protagonist’s tragic pursuit, even as he builds a rather rustic fake life using the name of a free jazz iconoclast John Zorn as cover. We are never allowed to forget, just as he doesn’t let himself forget despite advice from his lifelong friend (LaKeith Stanfield) about the family he had left behind and the women he lied to.  

Furthermore, Cianfrance’s lens positions this story firmly within the context of its time. Set in 2004, the movie clearly latches onto its period setting—and just how mind-boggling it must be for all Millennials to see their formative time used as a historical setting—which further embellishes the absurdity of this otherwise starkly real narrative. What we get is a bizarre experience that is as featherlight and funny as it is emotionally charged and burdensome, a true emotional rollercoaster that finds a great balance between laughs and reflection. In fact, it might just be one of the most powerful films of the year and one that deserves to live on in the minds of those who choose to go out and see it for many months to come.  

Roofman is nothing short of a standout and a testament to the prowess of the creative team responsible for making a movie that will most assuredly reduce you to tears while having you giggle simultaneously. It is also a pitch-perfect character study that peeks into the soul of someone who drifted off the beaten path and scrambled to find balance while stacking mistakes upon one another. It is truly a great film resting on the combined strength of its nuanced performances, the absurdity of its predicament and the artistic honesty of the man at the helm who ought not to be allowed to go into feature exile ever again.