Roofman - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Roofman



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
​

Movie
They say that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and in the case of the 1998-2000 crime spree by ex-Army veteran Jeffrey Manchester, this is actually pretty true. I’m going to fully admit that before I saw the trailer for Roofman, I had no inkling about the actual crimes of the aforementioned man until I started digging into his history. It turns out that, while the movie obviously takes liberties here and there, the film ended up being weirdly accurate to reality. Something that most “based on a true story” films never quite achieve. But even more importantly, Roofman turned out to be a really fun watch, blending elements of comedy with serious drama while feeling like it was an indie production even though half the main cast are established actors (several academy award winning). It’s a weird hodgepodge of reality and fiction, but a fascinating watch, and made even better by reading about the real Jeffrey Manchester.

Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) is an Army vet whose life is kind of on the skids. He lives divorced from his wife and daughter, Becky, barely able to make ends meet while his family is slipping away from him. In a desperate attempt to retain what little of his life he has left, Jeffrey turns to a life of crime. Instead of using his military skills to wreak violence in his crime spree, he instead uses his intellect to figure out the easiest way to bypass McDonalds security. Head up to the roof and make a hole in the thinnest part of the building (made even easier due to the fact that McDonalds are all cookie-cutter buildings with the same weakness), dropping down, and politely putting the staff in the walk-in freezer while he robs the place. Oh, and of course, he’s polite enough to call 911 afterwards to make sure the staff doesn’t suffer any harm.

Now he has enough money to win back his daughter’s heart, only for the world to come crashing down on top of him when the Charlotte PD figures out who he is and arrests him at his daughter’s birthday party. And while he only stole 100 grand from a string of McDonald's and Burger Kings (and supposedly a few Blockbuster Videos), the judge threw the book at him and used him putting the staff in the freezer as a roundabout way of charging him with kidnapping. Now Jeffrey is looking at a 45-year sentence, and parole is over 25 years away. Using that big brain of his once more, the convict finds a way to escape on one of the prison trucks and gets out of dodge.

Problem is, now that he’s outside, Jeff has to figure out a way to get out of the country, and his one contact, who can forge the documents he needs to get out, is on a 6-month tour overseas right now. Leaving poor Jeffrey to figure out a way to hunker down and wait it out. Taking refuge in a local Toys R Us, the escaped criminal realizes that the store’s security is incredibly lax, allowing him to hide inside a giant false wall behind the bike display and wait it out for the next 5 months. But in the interim, he takes pity on a young employee named Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), and decides to donate some toys to her church’s local toy drive, and eventually gets caught up in a relationship with her, all the while the rest of the state is hunting for him.

I will fully admit that I wasn’t really wild about the film when I saw the trailer. It looked kind of goofy and almost like a low-budget comedy that would not be in my wheelhouse, but I came out pleasantly surprised by my viewing. Channing Tatum does a really good job of portraying Jeffrey, toning down his normal “hotness” a little bit and actually getting into the goofier side of the ludicrous situation. The same can be said for Peter Dinklage, who loses his serious acting demeanor for a more lighthearted douche bag type character as the Toys R Us manager. Dunst is solid, but strangely doesn’t really stand out (which may have been the point). She comes across as a soft-spoken southern woman, and in the case of this dramedy, doesn’t stand out as wildly comedic or overly dramatic. She just “exists” as a southern single mother.

After reviewing as much of the real-life events of Jeffrey Manchester (who is up for parole in 2036, actually), I was absolutely amazed at how much the film mirrored his real life. Not exactly, but Paramount got enough things right that you couldn’t just laugh it off as being 100% fiction. Sure, there were fabricated aspects, such as his friend who could forge documents (Jeffrey never had that friend, nor was he looking to escape the country), and some of the events with Leigh’s children (they simply said he was a great guy, and the film expounded on those moments). But what really stood out to me was his sentence. The man never harmed anyone in his robberies, and stole maybe $100,000, yet got 45 years in prison. Something that even people who commit rape or manslaughter don’t even get. Turns out they only caught him on ONE of the burglaries he committed, and the judge decided to throw the book at him because he wanted to convict him on all of them. Rumor also has it that McDonald's corporate may have bribed the judge and/or pressured him to max the sentence to make an example of him, so they charged him with kidnapping regarding putting the staff inside the meat locker while he made his escape. I mean, I come from a family of cops (both my wife’s family and my family), and 45 years for a nonviolent robbery and less than $100,000 of insured losses is INSANE. Which is very likely how they made the film into a sympathetic take on Jeffrey’s adventures.




Rating:

Rated R for language, nudity, and brief sexuality.




4K Video: Video:

To really get that 1990s feel down correctly, director/writer Derek Cianfrance used 35mm film to shoot the production, and then given a 4K digital intermediate for the home video release. And strangely, while the 4K and 1080p discs both look really nice, this is not an eye candy film. Bathed in some browns and dusty amber hues, the picture is solidly grainy and not exactly an eye catcher. Fine details are generally good, and the interior of the Toys R Us store pops a bit more with crisp colors and bright highlights; the rest of the film is that dusty wheat color that I described earlier. Black levels are solid, but never fantastic, and overall, the film feels like it was shot using a church Handycam in terms of aesthetics. Everything all around is very good, just not the kind of film that is going to shock and awe. Which, from what I could glean from the extras, was intentional to give it that sort of weathered “1990s” look.









Audio:

The same could be said of the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track (which is rare these days. Most 5.1 mixes are DTS-HD MA, while next-gen audio tracks are Dolby Atmos). It’s good, but doesn’t blow the roof off (sorry, that’s the best “roof” pun I could come up with on short notice), instead falling heavily into typical dramedy status. Dialog is good and stable, with a strong presence in the front of the room, while the surrounds are mostly used for ambient noise in the store, or the screeching of police sirens during the film. Bass is punchy during the escape scene as well as Jeffrey blowing up the dentist's office, but overall this is a fairly mild-mannered mix that does everything well, but wasn’t designed to go bonkers.







Extras:

• Based on Actual Events and Terrible Decisions
• Chasing the Ghosts: The Director's Method
• A Good Place to Hide
• Driving Lesson
• Choir Practice
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes

Final Score: ​

Roofman is a strange hybrid of goofy comedy with dramatic elements about learning to pay for your mistakes (although the real Jeffrey Manchester attempted escape 2 more times after the events of the movie), and somehow made one of the better dramedies I’ve seen in years. The film has some pacing issues in the middle half, and a few moments of incredulity going on, but overall, this was a fascinating watch and a nice change of pace for Channing Tatum. It’s also one of Paramount’s latest experiments in terms of the physical media packaging, as they move to follow Sony’s lead by releasing several of their less popular new releases with a 4K/Blu-ray combo pack, and forgoing making separate releases. Something I wouldn’t mind seeing more of. The 4K UHD and Blu-ray both look and sound good, and the extras are pretty reasonable. Fans of the movie will enjoy the release, and the film stands well enough on its own that if you haven’t watched it yet, I’d highly recommend checking it out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield, Alissa Marie Pearson, Gabriella Cila, Kirana Kuic, Peter Dinklage, Juno Temple
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Written by: Derek Cianfrance
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French DD 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 126 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 20th, 2026

Recommendation: Good Watch