ParamountThe key to being a good criminal, according to LaKeith Stanfield’s army veteran-turned-passport-forger Steve, is that you have to be cool and calculating. “You’ve got the calculating part down,” he tells Channing Tatum’s Jeffrey Manchester, “but…you’re too goofy.” That, in a nutshell, is Derek Cianfrance’s approach to Roofman, a movie based on a true story so absurd it must be seen to be believed. Cianfrance is the director behind such devastating films as Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, so for him to direct a lighthearted crime comedy feels a little unexpected, to say the least. But as Roofman takes increasingly wacky turns, most of them owing to the truly bizarre turns of the story of Jeffrey Manchester, it’s Cianfrance’s deft touch that maintains the tricky balance between the absurd and the affecting.Roofman stars Tatum as real-life criminal Jeffrey Manchester, a former United States Army Reserve non-commissioned officer, who became known as “Roofman” after he committed a string of robberies of McDonald’s (and occasionally Burger King) branches by entering via the roof. When Jeffrey is arrested at his young daughter’s birthday, he patiently plots his escape — and pulls it off. But with his face plastered all over the media, he’s forced to go into hiding at the closest place he can find… which happens to be a Toys "R" Us store. But Jeffrey makes a funny little home for himself: He builds himself a small nest made of inflatable furniture and Spider-Man bedding behind the wall of a display that no one ever checks, he hooks up some baby monitors around the store to keep himself entertained, and he feeds himself on a steady supply of Peanut M&Ms. But despite the orders of his friend and fellow vet Steve, Jeffrey does the one thing he shouldn’t: he gets involved.Jeffrey becomes attached to one of the employees of the Toys “R” Us, single mom Leigh Wainscott (a lovely Kirsten Dunst), whose clashes with her horrible boss Mitch (an enjoyably slimy Peter Dinklage) earn Jeffrey’s sympathy, and eventually, affections. While trying to surreptitiously donate toys to Leigh’s church, Jeffrey gets roped into a singles’ night where he finally meets Leigh face-to-face. They strike up a sweet romance, which complicates Jeffrey’s plans to flee the country in a few months.The romance between Jeffrey and Leigh makes up the emotional core of the movie. | ParamountTatum gives the best, most vulnerable performance of his career as Jeffrey, a man that many of his closest friends and most determined pursuers describe as having genius-level intellect…but he’s also, in their words, “an idiot.” Jeffrey is observant and clever when it comes to casing a new environment, but the problem is that he cares too much. He nearly gets caught when he first escapes prison because he visits his daughter, breaking down in tears when he sees that she’s happy with his ex-wife’s new partner. And of course, he bungles his entire escape plan when he falls in love with Leigh and quickly involves himself in her life.Tatum plays Jeffrey almost like a gentle giant; he wears his heart on his sleeve and has a tendency to shower his loved ones with gifts. And while Tatum is no stranger to playing the charismatic romantic lead, Roofman gives him much more to do emotionally than even his brief stint in Nicholas Sparks weepies: he’s a man at the end of his rope, trapped by circumstance, kept from his potential. Despite the goofy nature of Roofman’s premise, he’s a classic Cianfrance protagonist, especially in the glimpses we get of his struggles to bring his family out of poverty, and in the second half of the film, when he romances the working-class Leigh. And while we see Cianfrance’s strengths mostly in the film’s slower, more grounded stretches, that doesn’t mean the director doesn’t have a little bit of fun.Stanfield lends a layer of cool as Jeffrey’s one ally, Steve. | ParamountCianfrance, who co-writes the script with Kirt Gunn, stages much of Roofman as a sleek crime caper in a minor key — Tatum’s Jeffrey narrates his exploits like he’s the charming lead of a Steven Soderbergh film. In fact, Roofman feels like Cianfrance tapping into his inner Soderbergh (Logan Lucky fans, this is for you), with Jeffrey’s successful robberies and prison escapes playing like a satisfying heist. Cianfrance seems to delight in taking advantage of Tatum’s natural comedic talents and takes to the lighter half of the film eagerly. But it’s Cianfrance’s deep affection for the characters and care for the story that keeps Roofman spiraling too far into the absurd.Roofman slows down and transforms into a slice-of-life drama in the latter half, embedding us in the small, mundane world of Charlotte, North Carolina, as Jeffrey ingratiates himself further into Leigh’s life. Ben Mendelsohn (a frequent collaborator of Cianfrance) and Uzo Aduba offer warm presences as the leaders of the church that Leigh is a member of, while even Leigh’s daughters get their own arcs and conflicts. It feels like the kind of working-class melodramas that we would’ve gotten in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, a comfortingly low-stakes detour that is almost devoid of plot altogether. The momentum, then, rests in the romance between Jeffrey and Leigh, which is wonderfully awkward and sweet, reminding us of both Tatum and Dunst’s strengths at the height of their rom-com careers. The two of them share an instantly strong chemistry, and it drives Roofman through some of its middle-act lulls.Roofman is not nearly as silly as its poster or title would make it appear, but it’s still lightweight enough to make for a breezy watch. Thanks to the strengths of Tatum and Dunst’s chemistry and the depth that Cianfrance lends the larger-than-life story, Roofman manages to rise above the, well, roof of the “based on a true story” genre.Roofman is playing in theaters now.