Roofman (2025)

Plot of Roofman: Jeffrey Winchester, a retired member of US armed forces, has trouble supporting his family so takes to robbing MacDonalds by breaking in through the roofs and forcing the managers to open the safe. He becomes known as Roofman, however he is caught and jailed for 45 years. During his sentence he escapes by hiding under a truck and on the run, hides in a Toys R Us. He finds a spot where he can hide and gradually takes over the store, using baby monitors to keep track on the employees. He follows up on a request by a female employee to gift returned toys to a charity operated by the local church and is more or less adopted by the congregation, including the employee, Leigh. They start a relationship, Winchester pretending to be in some sort of security operation which is secret. But he engages his friend Steve to provide him with a new identity which is going to cost $50,000 so he must take steps to get the money.

Content: Just a bit of sex but no nudity. Some social drinking I think. We see a robbery where Winchester gives his coat to  MacDonalds man who does not have a coat. The escape is successful and once in the toy shop the man creates a next within a large shop fitting, the baby monitors allowing his to see how the store is managed and where necessary alter Leigh’s work times etc.  The manager is unpleasant. Time passes and Winchester, effectively becomes part of Leigh’s family, visiting her and the church at weekends when the store is shut. By this time we understand that he has been divorced by his wife.

A View: I kept having to remind myself that it was a true story, otherwise we might wonder how anyone so clever and charming does not have a job which allows him to support his family properly. The film is generally thought to be fine, although I found it just a bit overdone, even if the approach of the church congregation is correctly portrayed it all looks a bit overdone. If anyone showed that level of friendliness to me on the basis of absolutely nothing I would wonder what it was that they wanted from me. It maybe fits into a to watch list for when it comes out on cable.

Fun Fact: Jeffrey Winchester is due out of prison in the 2030s. He has tried to escape twice, once in 2007 and once in 2017.