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October 10, 2025

At the Movies: Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst bring humanity to true-crime tale ‘Roofman'

By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer

Down on his luck divorced dad who resorts to crime is becoming familiar territory for Channing Tatum as an actor. In “Logan Lucky” his mark was the Charlotte Motor Speedway. In “Roofman,”in theaters Friday, it's McDonald's. In both films, there's a young daughter he wants to impress. The big, heartbreaking difference is that “Roofman” isn't just some fun, eccentric caper — it's based on a wild true story, involving a prison escape, a six-month secret stay inside Toys “R” Us and a local girlfriend who was none-the-wiser to his criminal ways.

The film, directed by Derek Cianfrance, who co-wrote the script with Kirt Gunn, takes some important liberties in telling the story of Jeffrey Manchester, though many of the wildest beats did actually happen, including offering up his coat to a McDonald's employee he was robbing. It's suspected that he hit over 40 of the fast-food joints across the country before he was nabbed in North Carolina.


 
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