26/10/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Rarely has Mark Twain’s pronouncement that, “Truth is stranger than fiction… because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities” felt more apt. Imagine the pitch. “So there’s this really sweet-natured armed robber, who pulls off an inordinate number of heists before being caught. He escapes from prison and then hides out in a busy branch of Toys “R” Us – for six whole months – during which time he also finds himself a girlfriend and joins a church…”

Nah. Way too unlikely.

What do you mean, it actually happened?

Channing Tatum is perfectly cast as Jeffrey Manchester, the charismatic criminal whose breathtaking chutzpah has us all rooting for him. He exudes the requisite warmth and charm to make us buy into this frankly incredible tale. All he wanted was to buy his daughter a bike, right? It’s perfectly reasonable for a man in his situation to load a gun and raid more than forty branches of McDonald’s. Isn’t it?

Of course, the key to this story is in the absurdity of Manchester’s hideout. There’s such a disconnect between the escaped convict and his surroundings: the Spiderman T-shirt and Heelys lend him an air of child-like innocence; the den he builds behind a bike display is a boyhood dream of unlimited computer games and bottomless bags of M&Ms. His night-time trolling of tyrannical store-manager Mitch (Peter Dinklage) is also a joy to behold.

Kirsten Dunst plays Leigh, a Toys “R” us employee who falls for “John” (Manchester’s alter-ego), an undercover intelligence officer, who charms both her and her two daughters (Lily Collias and Kennedy Moyer). He becomes an active member of Leigh’s church, forming strong relationships with the Pastor (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife (Uzo Aduba), which even survive the eventual revelation of his true identity. (Apologies to anyone who thinks this is a spoiler, but the facts are out there in the public domain, so there’s not much point in gatekeeping them here.)

But of course the police haven’t forgotten about the armed robber on the loose and, alongside the fun and games, Manchester is plotting a vanishing act. And people are going to get hurt along the way…

Writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s adaptation of these true-life criminal escapades is a lively, engaging affair, encouraging the audience to goggle open-mouthed at Manchester’s audacity, and his ability to find joy in the most stressful conditions. Sensibly, Cianfrance and his co-writer Kirt Gunn have eschewed any cinematic flourishes in this straightforward, chronological account, the simplicity allowing the strangeness of the situation to speak for itself.

Roofman puts a different spin on ‘cosy crime’ and it’s certainly worth wrapping up and braving the ‘cosy season’ weather to make the trip to your local multiplex. Just keep an eye out for any holes in the ceiling. You never know who might be lurking up there…

4.4 stars

Susan Singfield