ROOFMAN is based on the unbelievable true story, following Jeffrey Manchester – played by Channing Tatum – a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh – played by Kirsten Dunst – a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
We sat down with writer/director Derek Cianfrance to talk about all the rich themes wrapped in humor and covered with peanut M&Ms.
Interviewed for Family Entourage
Family Entourage: I enjoyed getting to see this film and I loved that it was so complex and that even though we’re talking about this criminal, there is so much life application that we can take from it. I mean, beginning with the fact that even though he’s doing these things that are deemed wrong, the motivations are because he wants to provide for his family, he wants to be respected by his kids. Talk to me a little bit about how that can translate to all.
Derek Cianfrance: Jeff has a relatable issue, which is 50, 60 years ago, if one member of your household had a job, it was pretty certain that you could also have a car and you could have a garage and you could have a home. And I think if you had two people in a household working, you could probably have two cars in a two car garage and you might even be able to have a pool. Nowadays, I think if you have two people working in a household, maybe two jobs, there’s no guarantee you can even put food on the table. And I think it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet. And I think Jeff got out of the military and he could not provide for his family in the way, he couldn’t give his children the life that he had growing up. And so he made these really wild, outrageous choices. And I don’t think the movies certainly doesn’t condone any of those choices. I mean, certainly this is a cautionary tale. If you rob McDonald’s, you go to prison, and if you’re trying to provide for your family by robbing a McDonald’s, you will not see your family again. That was the harsh truth that Jeff had to learn.
And so his life was like a great tragedy, but his heart was always met. Well, and I think what interested me about him is when he put people in a freezer, he made sure they had their jackets. And when he escaped toys or us, I mean, sorry, escaped prison, he didn’t hide in a forest. He’s hidden the toys or us. And when he was at the off-ramp to an airport with a plane ticket in his hand to his freedom, he decided to turn around to take his girlfriend out to dinner. He didn’t want to just leave her in the lurch. And I think those contradictions of his character or what was really interesting to me, and in some ways it was if he was more cold-blooded and calculating, he would’ve been a better criminal. And as Steve says, you got the calculation part down, you’re just goofy. And what he means by goofy, I think is like you got a warm heart. It’s his humanity. That was the thing that made him a bad criminal.
FE: One of the things that’s interesting I think with that is that this idea of where we place our self-worth, right? And he was struggling with where he fit in, and a lot of times people try to buy affection, or they try to perform for affection, but as Kirsten’s character even says, you are enough. I mean, that’s a deep theme in itself.
DC: It is definitely. My father, when I was a kid, used to say, I put a roof over your head, and he got me thinking about the name of this movie and this idea of this idea of being a provider as a father and things and stuff. And I actually asked the real Jeff about it, and he was like, it’s in natural. In the natural world you see birds like male birds. The more things that they can gather and make their home the more attractive they’ll be to females. And so he was like, it’s very natural, but it’s also So I understand that, but it’s also time. And I think that’s what I think as me being a father with a couple boys. I think the real message, or I don’t think it’s a message, but the thing that touched closest to home for me was like, you can do all these things in your life and the most important thing to provide for your children is your time and your love and your support.
FE: Well, that’s one of the things I thought was really interesting about the church aspect in this film was the idea that they gave Jeffrey the chance to get plugged in. They gave him the chance to have community and be seen. And this idea of extending grace versus judging, even though they were unaware of what they could possibly be judging on. Maybe talk a little bit about those themes
DC: For sure. The pastor of the church, pastor Ron, when I spoke to him, I asked him, he was like, tell me about the Bible. And he says, well, old Testaments judgment, new Testaments grace in his life, he tries to err on the side of grace. And I thought to myself, I thought about society and Jeff and I thought how society had judged Jeff pretty harshly. And I’m not going to critique that, but he’s got 45 years and I met the judge. The judge who sentenced him is actually in the movie as well, but I thought that maybe the movie could see Jeff with a little more grace like that church community did. And one of the reasons I shot the film down in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the actual church where Jeff actually met Lee, that was the real place. I wanted to find that sense of community and that sense of warmth and that warmth and that sense of acceptance. And when I think about Jeff’s crimes and the wrongs that he committed, how huge they were, they were huge. But then I think about Pastor Ron and I think about Lee and I think about how huge their grace and how huge their forgiveness was for him. And I felt like that was an important thing to put out into the world. Now when everyone is very divided and there’s battle lines drawn, and I felt like it was good to just have a complicated portrait of humanity and grace,
FE: And thank you for giving us the opportunity to laugh, which is great too, because it’s very funny. Curious were the peanut M&Ms, what he really was on or did you get to pick a candy of choice?
DC: He loved peanut M&Ms. Jeff was addicted to peanut M&Ms, and he did eat so many peanut M&Ms that he did get 14 cavities, and he did have to go to the dentist to get his cavities filled. And he did get X-rays taken, and he did get paranoid about the x-rays, and he did try to light them on fire. And he did, according to him, inadvertently blow up the dentist office. He said as he was walking across the parking lot, he heard a kaboom and he said, oops. And that’s what we did in the movie.
ROOFMAN hits theatres October 10
