Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst in 'Roofman.' Paramount Pictures Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment In films like Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, his TV miniseries I Know This Much Is True and his screenplay work on Sound of Metal, Derek Cianfrance has shown an affinity for moody material, often exploring working-class lives, bruised masculinity and the imperfections of love. The director's first feature in nine years, Roofman, goes an unexpected route, again touching on those themes but with a delicate tone that makes room for lightness, comedy, romance and quietly searing melancholy. A true-crime story that's also a tender character study, the film hands Channing Tatum his most soulful role since Foxcatcher and makes the actor's not exactly intuitive pairing with Kirsten Dunst a thing of beauty. This is the kind of disarming crowd-pleaser for which cringe-inducing clichés like "it will sneak up and steal your heart" were invented. What's refreshing about Roofman is that it's never too aggressive about it. It's sentimental but sincere. Related Stories Movies 'Poetic License' Review: Maude Apatow's Directorial Debut Is a Bighearted but Frustratingly Aimless Campus Comedy Movies Toronto: Jafar Panahi Calls for a World Where "We're All Free" Amid Authoritarian Threats Roofman The Bottom Line A gentle charmer that resists tugging too hard on the heartstrings. Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Gala Presentations)Release date: Friday, Oct. 10Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang, Peter Dinklage, Emory Cohen, Kennedy MoyerDirector: Derek CianfranceScreenwriters: Derek Cianfrance, Kirt Gunn 2 hours 6 minutes The same could be said for its protagonist Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum), a convicted robber active in the late '90s and again in 2004, who's a candidate for both cleverest and dumbest career criminal. As a prison guard comments in an interview early on, "He's a very smart individual, probably genius level. He's also a complete idiot." The conundrum Jeff faces repeatedly is how to be a decent guy and do good things for the people he cares about when the only means available to him are crime and deception. The real Manchester pulled off upwards of 40 robberies by smashing holes in the roofs of food franchise stores during the night, entering and then hiding out until the morning shift clocked on, at which time he would step out with a firearm and usher the employees into the walk-in cool room while he emptied the cash registers. The most unusual part of his spree was not the point of entry but the calm, courteous manner with which he spoke to his victims. That aspect is demonstrated in an amusing opening scene in which, while hitting one of many McDonald's locations, he kindly tells the staff to put on their coats before refrigerating them. When the manager stammers that he came to work without a coat, Jeff gives the man his. The script by Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn never tries to justify Jeff's criminality, but with pleasing economy, it lays out the reasons he's been driven to such desperate measures. An army veteran for whom the military had no further use, he returned to North Carolina and has struggled to stay in the lives of his three children, given that their mother (Melonie Diaz) is eager to move on. His fellow soldier buddy Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), who has his own shady money-making schemes, tells Jeff that his superpower is observation. That plants the idea that careful planning and familiarization with his robbery targets can earn him a lucrative living without hurting anyone. He estimates it will take him 45 McDonald's heists to get a house and better access to his kids. But that dream appears to die when the "Roofman," as he's dubbed in TV news reports, gets apprehended and handed a lengthy prison sentence. The stranger-than-fiction part of Manchester's story is the ingenious way he escaped from the correctional facility and managed to live undetected for months in the hidden spaces of a strip-mall Toys "R" Us outlet in Charlotte. Tatum's natural charm makes it entirely plausible that Jeff could get on good terms with the prison guards and plot his escape by studying the routines - and the vehicle - of a friendly delivery driver who unwittingly becomes his way out of there. But the arrest, the escape and the subsequent manhunt are more than enough justification for his ex-wife to insist that they cut the cord. There's plenty of goofiness and physical comedy in the way Jeff makes a home for himself at the toy store, tucking himself into Spider-Man bedding in his makeshift quarters. He rigs the CCTV cameras, giving him the freedom to roam the aisles at night, subsisting on candy, and installs baby monitor