'Roofman' Is a Bummer of a Feel-Good Movie

Setting a tone of sweet quirkiness from the opening scene — complete with a Randy Newman–style clarinet-and-piano soundtrack — Roofman indicates right from the get-go that it’s offering nothing but pleasant comedy hijinks. The film is drawing on an eccentric true-crime case involving a divorced Army veteran in North Carolina named Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) who finds he can’t fit into regular jobs in civilian life. So in order to make money to support his children, he begins a series of burglaries of fast-food restaurants, especially favoring McDonald’s. He always breaks in through the roof, hence the nickname “Roofman.” And he’s noted everywhere for his extreme consideration and politeness to frightened employees as he knocks over the place.