Review of “Roofman,” a film by Derek Cianfrance with Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst

After its presentation at the Toronto Festival, the new film by the director of Blue Valentine: A love story (2010), The place where everything ends (2012) y The light between the oceans (2016) which, after a hiatus of almost a decade without directing in film, also means a profound turn in his filmography towards comedy of tangles and action.

Premiere 06/11/2025

Published on 11/02/2025

a good thief (RoofmanUnited States/2025). Director: Derek Cianfrance. Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias and Jimmy O. Yang. Screenplay: Derek Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn. Photography: Andrij Parekh. Editing: Ron Patane, Jim Helton. Distributor: Diamond Films. Duration: 126 minutes. Suitable for people over 13 years old.

When it is said that someone has “a movie life” it is understood that it contains extraordinary, fascinating and/or delirious aspects. Jeffrey Manchester’s film encompasses a bit of all of those characteristics and, for this reason, co-writer and director Derek Cianfrance turned it into a very attractive romantic comedy with thriller elements and moments of action.

In the first scene we see how Jeffrey (Channing Tatum, in one of the best jobs of his career) goes in at night making a hole in the roof of a McDonald’s store and, when the employees arrive on Monday morning, he puts them in the cold room (but not before giving his sweatshirt to one who was in a t-shirt) and flees with the entire weekend’s proceeds. In truth, this former Marine robbed not one but 45 similar establishments using the methodology that gave him the nickname “Roofman” during the 1990s, which the original title alludes to. He was caught in 2000 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

After that prologue, the real movie begins, which includes a tense relationship with his family, an escape from prison four years later, an unusual way of camouflage and hiding in a toy store (all the art design is excellent), and even a particular incursion into a religious congregation and a love story with one of its members, a divorced woman and mother named Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst). We will not delve into any of these areas so as not to enter the territory of spoilers, but in all of them there are surprising elements, so absurd that it is difficult to believe that they occurred. But, as a poster at the beginning and another at the end makes clear, this is a real case.

Tatum gives his Jeffey some genius and some pathos, he is a lovable and at the same time clumsy guy, a man trained by the army and evidently frustrated by the difficulties (especially economic) of his existence, which lead him to commit robberies and behave at times like a Robin Hood-like vigilante. In that sense, there is a certain tragicomic and absurd spirit typical of the Coen brothers’ films (although without so much cynicism).

Without being a glorification of the “good” thief to which the premiere title in Argentina refers, Cianfrance invites us to empathize, to understand the motivations and in some way to love this being who is so dysfunctional in terms of social normality, but who deep down does what he does to precisely achieve family stability that was always denied him.

Beyond a closure that is not always convincing or does not fully take advantage of the possibilities of renowned performers such as Peter Dinklage, LaKeith Stanfield, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba and Juno Temple in very secondary roles, a good thief Much of its footage is a physical comedy that flows admirably and with some thriller scenes that amplify the vertigo and adrenaline. A surprising and welcome change of register in Cianfrance’s generally more ornate and solemn cinema.