Roofman

I remember hearing the story many eons ago about a man caught living in a Toys R Us for months without getting caught. I also recalled how he robbed blockbusters, but didn’t realize he had stolen from 45 something odd McDonalds.

I didn’t expect this to be such a tragic story. It made me sad how a veteran had to stoop to such lengths to get by and how he was losing his daughter after initially getting caught. His wit and cunning were like nothing else and by the end I was rooting for Jeffrey to get away with it all.

Once he escaped jail and started living in the Toys-R-Us I was skeptical of what else could progress the film. I could feel it starting to slow down and my interest was waning. However, being holed up for so long can’t help but lead to loneliness and he filled that by basically starting a whole new family. It was anxiety inducing knowing that it all had to come crashing down. Jeffrey was just biding time to get away and him bonding with Leigh and her two daughters felt both wholesome and terribly wrong. The closer they got with each other the more my anxiety built.

The highlight of the film was Dinklage’s character running into Jeffrey naked and how Jeffrey somehow got out of that uncaught. It was a genius play and that was the point where he should have laid low and quit roleplaying with his new family. However, he just wasn’t built like that and his humanity is why I loved him so much despite the wrongness of it all.

I wanted to rip my hair out at the ending. It was incredibly obvious that it was a trap and he went anyways. I wanted him to get away with his crimes and live out the rest of his life free. I wonder how at peace he is now after learning he attempted two other escapes since being imprisioned. I also appreciated how Leigh’s family saw it as one big adventure and didn’t hold any grudges against him. Even all these years later, the oldest daughter didn’t have a single bad thing to say about the guy.

Rating: 809/1000