- Content: “True Story of a “Nice Guy” Criminal”
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What You Need To Know:
Painting a criminal as a charming man with good qualities is undeniably a rough start. However, ROOFMAN is based on a real-life person. Apparently, the real-life man was indeed nicer than the average criminal. ROOFMAN is well made, with good chemistry between the romantic leads. It also has some positive Christian content and values. However, the movie contains some violence and about 20 strong obscenities and profanities. ROOFMAN also has some moral relativism and an implied bedroom scene. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.
Content:
Overall a positive moral worldview with some references to a Christian church in the plot and with messages of treating people with respect are shown throughout, but they’re mixed with some plot points that fall along the lines of “doing bad things for the right reason,” so movie has some humanist moral relativism in it, plus movie demonstrates people who make bad decisions can still have good qualities while condemning any morally wrong decisions made;
About 50 obscenities (including 12 “f” words and 17 “s” words), five strong profanities using the name of Jesus, three GD profanities, and two “n” words;
Strong and light violence includes brandishing of guns but none fired, punching, tackling, falling, and hitting inanimate objects with a baseball bat;
Implied fornication scene between title character and a divorced mother who attends a church;
Rear male nudity when man is entirely nude for an extensive period;
Light alcohol use;
Brief depictions of smoking perhaps includes some marijuana smoking; and,
Strong miscellaneous immorality such as breaking and entering, armed robbery, arson, greed, stealing, deception, reckless driving, and mentions of divorce.
More Detail:
As the movie opens, Army veteran Jeffrey Manchester is broke. Really broke. So broke that he can’t get his daughter a bike for her birthday. Desperate to be able to provide for his three young children, Jeffrey takes advantage of his unique skills and intelligence and starts breaking into McDonald’s buildings through their roofs, gaining the nickname “Roofman” in the process. However, Jeffrey isn’t your average criminal. In fact, he’s quite nice, even making sure employees have their coats on before he locks them in the freezer.
This MO for more than two years until, finally, Jeffrey is caught after more than 40 robberies and sent to prison for a very long time. Almost immediately after arriving, he starts plotting a way to escape. Jeffrey’s escape plan (involving the underside of a truck, stitched together clothing and crazy good timing) winds up working perfectly, and Jeffrey is soon free again.
Jeffery contacts a friend he met in the military who can help him get out of the country, only to discover his friend has gone back overseas for several months. With nowhere to go, Jeffrey does what he does best and breaks into a Toys R Us through the roof. He successfully hides out inside a large store display that nobody ever checks.
Over the next several months, Jeffrey builds a little space for himself in this display. He also takes control of the security cameras and starts observing what’s happening among the store’s employees. One of them, recent divorcee Leigh, catches Jeffrey’s attention. Leigh comes to her grouchy boss asking the store to donate toys to her church’s toy drive, but the boss refuses. So, Jeffrey decides to take matters into his own hands. He steals the toys and brings them to the church, only to be ambushed by a flirtatious member of the congregation, and this is where he officially meets Leigh.
Jeffrey and Leigh almost immediately hit it off after a singles gathering and start dating. Jeffrey gets to know Leigh’s two daughters and becomes fixated on getting them to like him. This is all happening while Jeffrey’s living inside the store where Leigh works, still trying not to get caught. Jeffrey finds himself in a major predicament. Stay with Leigh and inevitably get caught the moment someone recognizes him from the news? Or abandon Leigh and this new life he’s built as soon as his friend gives him the necessary means to do so?
ROOFMAN is well made overall. Male lead Channing Tatum has an undeniably contagious energy about him in all the roles he plays, and Jeffrey “Roofman” Manchester is no exception. Opposite him, Kirstin Dunst is perfectly convincing as Leigh Wainscott, a middle-aged, recently divorced mother of two. The chemistry between Dunst and Tatum is what drives the entire narrative. Leigh is also actively involved in a church. Thus, multiple scenes feature the church’s services and its congregation, although these faith-based aspects are extremely surface level.
Also, ROOFMAN has a fair amount of foul language, including about 20 strong obscenities and profanities. There’s also an implied sex scene between the criminal and the church lady. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.
