Releases: review of “Roofman”, by Derek Cianfrance

A mix of thriller, romantic drama and absurd comedy, ROOFMAN It may not be the typical film one sees at a film festival, but perhaps that is why it is enjoyed. Light comedy that turns into a romantic drama about a peculiar petty thief, this film starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst is directed by Derek Cianfrance, but its tone is quite far from his previous films such as BLUE VALENTINE o THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. It belongs, if you will, to the “American picaresque”, those films about curious characters who manage to deceive half the world without, almost never, being discovered.

Based on a real case that took place in the early 2000s, A GOOD THIEF It begins with the activities that made Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum) famous, a war veteran and father who, in need of money and affection – he is about to separate from his partner, with whom he has three children – has no better idea than to rob several McDonald’s stores. A nice and good-natured guy with a great capacity for observation, Jeffrey realizes that he can enter businesses through the roof, wait for the employees before their arrival, subdue them, lock them in the store’s freezer and steal the cash register. He also calculates that he needs to rob 45 stores to get the money he wants to help his family and abandon the task. Obviously, he will be caught before finishing his task. And his “fall” will have to do with a stroke of generosity, a characteristic that will complicate his life more than once. way of working

In what could well be a miniseries, Jeffrey’s misadventures there are just beginning. Sentenced to 45 years in prison, he finds an ingenious way to escape from prison and is soon on the streets again, pursued by the authorities. True to his style, he will outwit them and end up finding a strange refuge to stay: hidden inside a huge Toys “R” Us toy store, which he will inhabit as if it were his house, using its facilities at night, feeding himself M&M’s and even installing cameras (the ones used for babies) to snoop on their offices and activities.

While waiting for the return of a friend (LaKeith Stanfield) who could help him escape from the country using a false passport, Jeff ends up getting involved in the life of Leigh (Dunst), a recently divorced salesperson at the store whom he first helps with some needs and with whom he later falls in love. Searched – although less intensely – by the police, it is obvious that this romance and this outing into public life will have its risks, but the man cannot avoid it and, with another identity, he will begin to play a new chapter in his life.

Tatum perfectly embodies the complicated personality of the protagonist, an intelligent and witty man who can be innocent and somewhat foolish at the same time. Perhaps the characterization of the character is too comical –Cianfrance presents him as the kindest criminal in the world–, but in any case it is credible in the context of a film that has a light tone, like a comedy by the Coen brothers but devoid of any type of cynicism. Manchester will have the resources and talent to be a great criminal, but he makes beginner’s mistakes, sometimes out of clumsiness, sometimes out of kindness and, of course, also out of love.

The central core of the film will be the relationship he has with Leigh, a woman with two daughters, devoutly religious and divorced, with whom he first connects by watching her work at the store – there she is mistreated by her boss, played by Peter Dinklage -, then he accompanies her to her church and with whom he then falls in love. In his obsession with getting Leigh’s daughters to like him, it is clear that Jeffrey (who uses another name with them and invents an absurd profession) is desperate to regain the affections he lost, especially that of his own daughter. And even knowing the risks he runs by exposing himself to them, he will give everything to be part of that new family group.

Cianfrance gradually makes the film gain in density, leaving aside its most ostensibly absurd resources and entering a more human and intimate territory. And beyond an extension that could be reduced by several minutes – Juno Temple, Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba appear in brief roles that were clearly cut in editing – the director makes us empathize with the confusion of his protagonist, torn between the need to hide and escape with the need to reconnect with the world after a long confinement and, in his own way, redeem himself. And those who “sell” us that empathy are its protagonists, the always impeccable Dunst and a Channing Tatum to whom the role fits like a glove: a good guy who can’t think of anything other than stealing to gain the affection of those he loves most.