In celebration of Mother's Day, last Saturday I let my wife pick the movie we would watch with no input from me. She chose Roofman. Luckily for me, my wife is cool and she knows what movies i will find entertaining. Luckily for her it starred Channing Tatum because... ummmm... he looks like Channing Tatum.
I had actually wanted to see this movie since it was first advertised. Although it was based on a true story, I had never heard anything about it when it happened. So all I knew is what I saw in the trailers, a nice guy (who commits armed robberies) hides from the police inside a Toys's'Us for six months. From the ads it was hard to tell if it would be a comedy or a drama. It turns out it was a bit of both.... but it was definitely far more drama. Oh and for the young people out there, Toys'r'Us is somehting my generation called a toy store. You know a place where you could go and look at and buy toys. It was liek Amazon... but in real life!
Although I don't feel the same way my wife does about Channing Tatum, I find him very charming and likable in just about every role he plays. He's just pleasant. This movie was no exception. In fact, it is really his charm that carries the movie.
Even though this is based on real events, I think they are so obscure that I could still possibly spoil this movie. As a result, I won't reveal too much of the plot. But I will say that the tone switches about three quarters of the way through... and I'm glad it did. It starts light but it can't possibly stay that way.
This is a movie about a very likable person.The real Jeffrey Manchester is an army veteran who struggled to provide for his family after returning home. He seems like a good person... who makes horrible choice after horrible choice. As a result, you cannot feel too sorry for him. And that is the way it should be. There might be reasons for a choice but the consequences for that choice do not disappear.
Beyond Tatum (and Manchester's) charm, there are some surprisingly excellent performances in the film. Laketh Stanfield, who plays Jeffrey's friend Steve, has never put in a bad performance and Roofman is no exception. Kirsten Dunst, who I normally cannot stand, was more than watchable in this film. She was actually good. Peter Dinklage is the perfect retail manager. I just wanted to punch him! Ben Mendlesohn really brings to life Pastor Ron who welcomes Jeffery into his flock.
Although this movie was not fun, it was good. I would call it more interesting than entertaining. It was fascinating to see how Jeffery could pull off hiding out in a Toys'r"Us.... especially during the Christmas Rush. And it was fascinating, and incredibly sad, to see how this apparently well meaning human being made selfish bad choice after selfish bad choice all while believing he really was the unselfish good guy.
Every once in a while it is good to see a well made movie that makes its bones by just telling a compelling story performed by excellent actors. It wasn't exciting. It wasn't really funny or romantic. It was just a story. In this case it was a story worth watching.