Channing Tatum’s Roofman is going through the roof with its critics’ reviews, audience reception, and box office performance. Yet, in most biopics, it becomes difficult to draw the line between what is real and which scenes are embellished to make the story worthy of a Hollywood spectacle. With Tatum’s film, however, one hardly needs to be concerned about the lack of a spectacle.
Derek Cianfrance’s movie is based on a subject whose life is more colorful, dynamic, and bizarre than most made-up characters. In that category, Roofman does both its protagonist and the audience justice by delivering a top-notch, nail-biting cat-and-mouse story filled with romance, hilarity, and suspense.
This article seeks to dissect every aspect of the Hollywood movie to discern which parts are real and which are made up for the sake of the viewer’s clarity.
Roofman Breakdown: A True Story That is Too Wild to be Real
From being a US Army Reserve soldier to robbing over 40 fast food restaurants across six states, Jeffrey Manchester was defined by his too-polite, gentlemanly, and considerate charm that left law officials and victims baffled. Channing Tatum effectively portrays the creative rooftop burglar in a manner that is wary of his signature identity as the most courteous criminal in history.
Roofman rightly depicts Manchester’s escape from prison and his hideout in a forgotten corner of a Toys “R” Us store. His months-long stay in the cramped space and nightly antics are also accurate depictions of how Manchester bided his time right under the city’s nose and out of the police’s sight [Biography].
Moreover, Kirsten Dunst’s role as Leigh Wainscott correctly reflects the story of her short-lived romance with the polite but resilient thief. The latter sparked a relationship with the single mother living in North Carolina, even going so far as to bring gifts for her daughters, and spinning elaborate lies about being a covert operative working for the government to local churchgoers.
As wild as it may seem, the scene where Manchester burns down a dentist’s office to cover his tracks is not a dramatic reimagining on Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn’s parts. Instead, it follows very much in the light of real events. The full-scale arson was a brash move for a famously careful and stealthy robber, but it was a calculated risk on Manchester’s part after he became concerned that his dental records would give away his location to the local authorities.
Every Roofman Scene That Diverges From the True Story
Although Jeffrey Manchester’s life is wild enough to lend many interesting attributes to the biopic, it would be remiss of a Hollywood movie not to offer up some embellishments of its own.
In that vein, Roofman doesn’t highlight how Jeffrey Manchester moved his hideout to an abandoned Circuit City store next door during Christmas, when the Toys “R” Us store became packed with families and holiday shoppers. It’s in this second hideout where Manchester truly made a home for himself, painting his nook, putting up movie posters, and watching DVDs to pass the time.
Logistically, it would have been financially tricky for the movie to set up two different sets and arrange the filming schedule accordingly based on the timeline of Manchester’s activities corresponding to his hideout locations.
Moreover, the movie also rehashes the reality of Jeffrey Manchester’s arrest in May 2000 by showing how he was caught while fleeing from his daughter’s birthday party. However, his first arrest was the result of diligent police work after Manchester rashly robbed two McDonald’s restaurants on the same day, and a silent alarm was triggered at the second location by an employee.
The movie also fails in several regards when it comes to Manchester’s relationship with Leigh Wainscott. Unlike the film’s depiction of him becoming smitten with her after seeing her in Toys “R” Us, Wainscott never worked for the store, and the pair actually met in church for the first time.
Roofman also embellishes a majority of the climactic finale that shows Leigh recognizing the masked Jeffrey in the middle of his Toys “R” Us robbery. In reality, the police contacted Wainscott first, revealed John Zorn’s real identity, and convinced her to trick him into coming home, where he was eventually taken into custody for the second time in Charlotte, North Carolina [Charlotte Observer].
Below is a list of all the characters in the Channing Tatum movie and the real-life characters they portray:
In this saturated new trend of biopics in Hollywood, let us know which ones have moved or inspired you the most in recent years. Drop your favorites in the comments below.
Roofman is currently playing in theaters worldwide.
