Rating: 7.5/10
Warning: Spoilers
Modern Hollywood keeps disappointing moviegoers with a run of slop, mostly made up of terrible adaptations, interpretations of true events or director passion projects. While there will always be exceptions to this rule, Hollywood has recently failed to satisfy the masses.
Unnecessary movies like a remake sequel based on three real-world events in “The Strangers — Chapter 2,” an unnecessary sequel to an original concept loosely inspired by John Wayne Gacy in “Black Phone 2,” and a sequel that fails to understand the groundbreaking horror of its original in “The Conjuring: Last Rites” are just a few movies that contribute to the general displeasure audiences feel about movie adaptations.
Despite these recent failures, “Roofman” is quite the opposite; it understands its setting, works within realistic constraints and delivers a solid, unpretentious Hollywood narrative.
The story follows the low-class family man Jeffrey Manchester — played by Channing Tatum — who struggles to take care of his daughter after serving in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Desperate for money, he uses his acute observational skills to rob several McDonald’s locations before being caught. The story takes an unusual turn when he is able to escape prison and hide out in a Toys“R”Us for several months, all while building a new life for himself.
The main deviations from the real events the story is based on are found in the difference of hiding spots, as Jeffrey actually hid in an adjacent vacant Circuit City store when the police found his first hiding spot in the Toys “R” Us. Other aspects of the story also deviate; for example, his love interest Leigh Wainscott — played by Kirsten Dunst — worked at an automotive group instead of the location Jeffrey was hiding in, and the church members Jeffrey became friends with turned him in instead of his girlfriend. Finally, his first arrest happened in a church parking lot outside of a McDonald’s instead of the neighborhood he lived in.
Other changes include shifting the meeting place of Leigh and Jeffrey to the toy drive, changing the identity of his contact that helped him obtain falsified documents, changing the number of kids he had from three to one and changing how exactly he was caught.
While these are substantial alterations, they do not detract from the shape of the story, its characters or its setting. The film feels exactly like it is from the time period during which the real events occurred — it’s as if the film were made in the early 2000s. All of the major plot points, except the ending, are exactly the same as in real life.
Additionally, changing the minor details allowed for the narrative to be streamlined into a 126-minute runtime instead of being a disjointed mess that would require too many workarounds in the script. Channing Tatum — possibly for the first time in his career — has delivered a notable performance that is painstakingly close to the real Jeffrey Manchester. Every actor is an accurate emulation of the characters they represent, adding to the realism of the film.
The only real problems with the film are some of the misplaced comedic elements, such as Manchester trying to navigate the cameras while his hand shows up on the CCTV. Mixing his stealth maneuvers with some subtle comedy didn’t necessarily add much to the story. The ending — while meaningful — was too obvious, especially since he was caught unaware in real life. While issues were present, they ultimately didn’t ruin the film.
Where is this attention to detail coming from?
The Oscar-nominated co-writer and director Derek Cianfrance, director of “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines,” put in a tremendous amount of effort in interviewing everyone Jeffrey interacted with during his crime spree and his time as a fugitive. Cianfrance spent a total of 400 hours interviewing Manchester, acting as his shrink as he pried endlessly for information about these events.
Ironically, some of the events that occurred in real life had to be cut from the film because of their implausibility, such as Manchester visiting a police station on Halloween in a bunny costume because Leigh’s youngest daughter’s pockets needed to be fixed with scissors. Apparently, the police station was the closest place to find a pair of scissors.
Why do directors fail to adhere to this standard more often than not in modern Hollywood? Filmmaking is not a cheap race horse you can keep betting on and abusing until it finally wins big; it’s a living, breathing organism that changes over the years as society adapts and audience tastes are satiated. It is expected for filmmaking to change and adapt to current political, social and economic problems as the technology to enhance storytelling evolves.
However, there is and always will be an objective standard to filmmaking that never changes, and one central aspect to fulfilling that standard is hard work. A filmmaker must put in effort, dedication and research to craft a meaningful story that audiences will actually appreciate instead of slapping some mediocre elements together and calling it a movie.
Rushing production does not always spell disaster, but skimming on details always does. This is why Roofman represents an excellent balance between a Hollywood narrative and historical accuracy.
Killian Netherton is an English and psychology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
