The True Story of Jeffrey Manchester from Channing Tatum's Roofman'

"Was there really a North Carolina man named Jeffrey Manchester who was convicted of robbing 42 fast-food joints by tunneling into their rooftops overnight and sticking up the minimum-wage workers in the morning? Yes, that's entirely true. The crime spree lasted two years and ended (temporarily) when the then 28-year-old was convicted in November 2000. And yes, he really did endear himself to his victims by being apologetic and friendly while holding them at gunpointwhich made the witnesses remember more about him."

"He really did escape from prison in 2004 by hiding out underneath a delivery truck. And Manchester remained on the loose for nearly a year by living inside a Toys R Us, where he survived on jars of baby food and fistfuls of candy. (He built a nest in an abandoned Circuit City that was next door, but Roofman streamlines this to keep him only in the toy store.)"

"Manchester would also sneak out of his retail hideaway and attend events at a local church, where he befriended and started dating a single mom named Leigh Wainscott (played by Kirsten Dunst). The one major leap of fiction that the move takes is having Leigh also work as an employee at the toy store. That part is false."

Roofman dramatizes the real crimes of Jeffrey Manchester, who tunneled into rooftops and robbed 42 fast-food restaurants over two years. Manchester often behaved apologetically and friendly during robberies, which made witnesses recall his appearance. He was convicted in November 2000, later escaped in 2004 by hiding under a delivery truck, and remained at large for nearly a year living inside a Toys R Us, surviving on baby food and candy. He sneaked out to attend church events and began a relationship with a single mother, Leigh Wainscott. The film compresses locations and invents Leigh as a toy-store employee; the climax shows him arrested after returning to see her.

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