Channing Tatum’s new film, Roofman, has a ridiculous premise: After breaking out of jail, a person who famously robbed a sequence of McDonald’s eating places hides out in a Toys “R” Us for months to evade the police. It is foolish, absurd, and intriguing. It’s also primarily based on a really true story.
Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Roofman largely covers the months-long stretch the place Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum) made a house for himself in an area Toys “R” Us. The movie depicts him adjusting the safety cameras so he can keep unseen by the workers, filling out a nook behind a bicycle show with inflatable furnishings and different pilfered gadgets, and residing nearly totally off of Peanut M&Ms.
Because it first premiered on the 2025 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition, Roofman has earned optimistic critiques. Tatum’s efficiency has sparked loads of reward, however so too has Cianfrance’s dealing with of Manchester’s life. Although a number of unbelievable particulars inside the movie are literally true, others have, as anticipated for a film, been altered to suit Roofman‘s model of the story.
How Roofman Modified Jeffrey Manchester’s Story
It is in all probability near-impossible to discover a film primarily based on a real story that does not embellish and tweak some details, and Roofman isn’t any exception. There are fairly just a few components which are full fabrications, whereas in different situations, Cianfrance’s movie omitted some particulars of Manchester’s story.
A serious change to the story is thru Leigh (Kirsten Dunst). Within the movie, she is an worker on the Toys “R” Us the place Jeffrey is hiding out; he glimpses her by way of the cameras he units up and turns into infatuated, although it is not till he visits her church that he truly meets her. Nonetheless, in actuality, Leigh did not work on the retailer, however they did nonetheless cross paths at church.
One other addition to the story is the character of Steve (Lakeith Stanfield), Jeffrey’s military buddy who works with him to safe his getaway. Per an interview Cianfrance did with TIME, Steve relies on somebody Manchester did know who made falsified paperwork, however Manchester was unwilling to share his true identification.
Primarily based on that, we will assume a lot of Steve’s function inside the film is a brand new addition to the story, or no less than closely altered from no matter occurred in actuality. This additionally paints Jeffrey’s climactic Toys “R” Us theft in a brand new gentle. The true Manchester did try and rob the identical retailer he’d been staying in, and it was the occasion that in the end led the authorities again to him.
Nonetheless, the film exhibits him carrying this out so he can get the cash he must pay Steve for his new paperwork. Manchester’s true motivations for robbing the shop aren’t truly clear, although it has been speculated that he merely wished to acquire a big sum of cash and skip the nation.
Moreover, a key a part of Manchester’s scheme is omitted of Roofman. The film solely ever exhibits him hiding within the Toys “R” Us, however he additionally frolicked within the Circuit Metropolis subsequent door. The Seattle Occasions notes Manchester had created a secret door between the 2 shops and lived inside the Circuit Metropolis.
By all accounts, the Circuit Metropolis was a significant location for Manchester, however Roofman skips it totally. This was possible for narrative and logistical ease, since requiring two totally different units and overlaying how he inhabited each would’ve sophisticated the manufacturing. Because it stands, the movie successfully exhibits Manchester’s intelligence and ingenuity with only one retailer takeover.
The Wild Particulars In Roofman That Are Really True
For all that Roofman modifications, although, it does a fairly good job of retaining the wacky essence of Manchester’s exploits, from his normal demeanor to the extra outlandish details. The credit even again this up; when you thought Jeffrey burning down a dentist’s workplace to cowl his tracks was a bit too dramatic to be true, you are lifeless fallacious. He actually did that!
Whereas Leigh working at Toys “R” Us was a fictional addition, the film’s depiction of her relationship with Jeffrey largely appears to comply with actual life. Jeffrey glided by the title “John Zorn,” claimed he had a secretive authorities job, and have become shut with Leigh’s daughters, going as far as to carry them items. Leigh even had a hand in Jeffrey’s second arrest, which befell proper exterior her door.
Roofman makes some extent to focus on Jeffrey’s kindhearted nature, greatest proven on the very starting when he urges his McDonald’s hostages to placed on coats earlier than he locks them in a freezer. This, too, is a real facet of his story; in a Los Angeles Occasions article from 2000, a spokesperson for the California Division of Justice, Mike Van Winkle, stated, “A lot of these he’s robbed have been struck by what a pleasant, respectable man he appears to be, an actual gentleman.“
How Roofman’s Actual-Life Topics Are Concerned With The Film
Picture through Paramount Footage
Roofman‘s credit already cowl a very good chunk of what occurred to Manchester after the top of the movie, together with the truth that he is at the moment serving time at Central Jail in Raleigh, North Carolina — and he tried to interrupt out two extra instances. It is also stated that Leigh Wainscott, who has since married another person, visited him in jail as soon as after his deception was revealed.
Since then, although, issues have modified a bit. Manchester spoke to Cianfrance and Roofman co-writer Kirt Gunn to share particulars of his life and help with the making of the movie. Nonetheless, as TIME notes, his being in jail means he has not seen the completed product, although he did catch a clip on the information.
Roofman additionally gave Wainscott a chance to revisit an advanced interval of her life with a contemporary perspective. She has a small cameo within the movie as a crossing guard and was current on set throughout a few of Dunst’s key scenes. Moreover, she has began to go to Manchester in jail once more, together with Pastor Ron Smith (performed by Ben Mendelsohn within the film).
Although there are a lot of who nonetheless look unfavorably on Manchester for his crimes, it largely appears as if Roofman has had a optimistic impression on the folks it depicts. Even with making the modifications typical of a Hollywood manufacturing, it stays true to its topic and trusts actuality to be wild sufficient to inform an amazing story, making for an entertaining journey.
- Launch Date
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October 10, 2025
- Runtime
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126 minutes
- Director
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Derek Cianfrance
- Writers
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Kirt Gunn, Derek Cianfrance
- Producers
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Alex Orlovsky, Dylan Sellers, Duncan Montgomery, Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell Taylor