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The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.<\/a><\/p>\n Delinquent protagonists in true-crime stories tend to have a memorable MO: Young lovebirds might find the thrill of theft romantic, while a teenager might relish roping her friends into targeting their favorite celebrities\u2019 homes. But Jeffrey Manchester, the robber known as \u201cRoofman,\u201d made headlines<\/a> for being unusually polite when he executed his misdeeds. After he surprised McDonald\u2019s employees by dropping in through the roof\u2014hence his nickname\u2014and holding them at gunpoint, he gently reminded one of them to breathe while they collected cash. Before he locked them in the walk-in refrigerator, he made sure that they had coats to wear so they\u2019d be comfortable in the cold.<\/p>\n Roofman<\/i>, a movie dramatizing Manchester\u2019s life, is similarly eager to please. Starring Channing Tatum as the titular crook, the film transforms the absurd tale of a criminal on the run into an intimate character study. It begins in 2004, with Jeffrey landing in prison\u2014only to escape shortly afterward and find shelter inside a Toys \u201cR\u201d Us. The ensuing series of events incorporate elements of romance and melodrama with farce and action. Anxious to reunite with his estranged family, he ventures outdoors under a false identity; he ends up falling in love with a single mom, Leigh (played by Kirsten Dunst), who works at the store Jeffrey has turned into his hideout. Roofman<\/i> deftly blends genres to create a low-key crowd-pleaser\u2014one that avoids merely reveling in what made Manchester notorious in the first place.<\/p>\n Movies based on the lives of real people can easily turn into hagiographies<\/a>, hyperbolizing their circumstances or papering over their scandals. Even an uplifting sports drama such as Rudy<\/i><\/a> or a period piece such as Argo<\/i><\/a> exaggerates scenes for added tension, treating its heroes like unassailable underdogs. But the writer-director Derek Cianfrance, who\u2019s best known for making Blue Valentine<\/i> and other complex tragedies, doesn\u2019t excuse Jeffrey for his lawlessness. Cianfrance depicts the character evenly, as someone who can be as clever as he is careless. Jeffrey is resourceful enough to build a security system for his refuge by stringing up baby monitors throughout the store\u2014but he also eats so much candy that he gives himself a toothache. The opportunities for big set pieces are similarly subdued. The closest thing to a car chase comes when Jeffrey drives a used sedan he purchased for Leigh\u2019s elder daughter, pushing it beyond the speed limit to impress her. Tatum, too, infuses Jeffrey with a disarming naivete that makes him compelling to watch.<\/p>\n