Channing Tatum’s New 85% RT True Crime Movie Is His Best in Years (But Its ‘True Story’ Isn’t What You Think)

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Channing Tatum is having a great run with his recent projects. He’s set to reprise his role as Gambit in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, and he impressed audiences with his voice work in the English dub of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. He also starred in a new film directed by Derek Cianfrance, which tells the incredible true story of Jeffery Manchester, a convict who hid in a Toys ‘R’ Us store for nearly six months. The film strives for accuracy, though, like all adaptations, it takes some creative liberties to make the story more engaging.

Considering the actual events, a simple, direct adaptation of the story would likely have been just as captivating on film. Ultimately, the movie aims to be entertaining and emotionally resonant, and achieving that sometimes means adding or altering details – enough to keep viewers engaged, but not so much that the story feels completely untrue. With that in mind, let’s examine what the film Roofman accurately portrayed and where it took liberties with Jeffrey Manchester’s story.

What Roofman Gets Right About Jeffrey Manchester

He’s a divorced Army veteran who starts robbing McDonald’s, using his attention to detail to understand how the restaurants work. Surprisingly, despite wearing a ski mask and carrying a rifle, he’s remarkably polite during the robberies. He speaks kindly to the employees, assures them they won’t be hurt if they cooperate, and even suggests they grab a coat before he locks them in the freezer. He promises to call the police after the robbery to have them released.

After being arrested and found guilty, Manchester was sentenced to 45 years in prison. He didn’t stay there long, though. He cleverly escaped by concealing himself under a pickup truck with a wooden platform, and managed this by getting a job in the prison’s metal workshop. He then hitchhiked to Charlotte, North Carolina, and found an unlikely hiding place behind the bicycle display at a local Toys ‘R’ Us. He turned the area into a living space, using baby monitors to watch the employees. Surprisingly, he survived by eating baby food and candy, and even managed to steal the manager’s security passwords, letting him come and go from the store without being noticed.

The movie has so far told Manchester’s story fairly accurately, but there’s much more to come. After losing contact with his children following his divorce, he found love again with a woman named Leigh and became close to her daughters. Living under the alias ‘John’ and pretending to be from New York with a secret government job, he knew he couldn’t hide in the Charlotte area indefinitely. Manchester decided to escape the country and committed a string of crimes to raise the money he needed. Eventually, he was caught and came to terms with the fact that he needed to be in prison for now.

Although the story seems hard to believe, it closely reflects what really happened. It’s easy to see why Hollywood was interested in making a movie about it. Director Derek Cianfrance strengthened the film’s credibility by including recent interviews with Leigh Wainscott and Pastor Ron Smith, as well as original news footage, in the end credits. He also filmed several scenes at the actual locations where the events unfolded, further emphasizing the story’s accuracy.

Roofman Took More Liberties Than Some May Realize

Although Roofman accurately portrays the main points of the true story, some details were added or changed to make the film more engaging. Viewers familiar with the real events might notice characters who weren’t actually involved or scenes that didn’t happen as shown. A key example is the character of Steve (played by LaKeith Stanfield), a friend of Jeff’s from the army who becomes his main support system while Jeff tries to escape the country and start a new life. Steve helps him attempt to create a false identity to aid in his escape.

Although Steve and Michelle seemed like sources of support for Jeff, offering him hope and goals, they were actually products of his imagination. Despite Jeff’s desire to leave the country, he was largely on his own, receiving very little real help. ‘R’, the character he created, served as a fictional obstacle for Jeff to confront and evade.

Jeff and his future partner first crossed paths at her church when he donated stolen goods to a toy drive. While the movie mostly shows him living inside a Toys ‘R’ Us, that wasn’t quite right. He actually moved from the toy store to the abandoned Circuit City next door. He built a hidden space between the two buildings and set up a living area under the stairs in the Circuit City to avoid being seen in the Toys ‘R’ Us.

Several events in the movie were heightened for dramatic effect and to show how the characters developed. For example, the way Jeff’s McDonald’s robbery arrest—happening at his daughter’s birthday party—played out in the film wasn’t accurate to real life. Similarly, the test drive with Leigh and her kids, and the Toys ‘R’ Us robbery, were embellished. The actual events were fairly simple, and likely wouldn’t have had the same emotional resonance if presented as they truly happened. These changes were made to create a more compelling story.

Stretching the Truth Made Roofman a Better Movie

It’s frustrating when movies dramatically change true stories, but sometimes these changes actually improve the film and make it more captivating. While people familiar with Jeffrey Manchester’s crimes might disagree with alterations to the facts, those changes often enhance the storytelling. Director Cianfrance clearly handled this story with sensitivity, and his creative choices didn’t unfairly or insensitively portray the real people involved.

The added and revised scenes allowed viewers to better understand and empathize with Jeff’s struggles. These scenes also created compelling interactions between characters, made even stronger by the actors’ performances and their natural chemistry.

While Roofman might not be perfectly true to life, it’s best to just enjoy it as a fun and engaging story. The movie is still showing in theaters and will be available to rent online in November, so you can see for yourself if its creative liberties ultimately make it a better film.

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2025-10-30 05:42