Known for his exquisitely crafted yet dour dramas (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pines, The Light Between Oceans), director Derek Cianfrance returns with something a little lighter: a stranger-than-fiction tale that assembles a crack cast for hapless criminal antics, romance and religion. Channing Tatum steps into the sneakers of nice-guy crook and former military man Jeffrey Manchester, the ‘Roofman’ of the title.

Following his incarceration for robbing one too many McDonalds, Jeffrey devises a cunning plan for escape and, once free, he takes up residence in a boarded-up area of the local Toys ‘R’ Us. There he survives on snacks, and spies on the staff, including mean-spirited manager Mitch (Peter Dinklage) and sweet single mum Leigh (Kirsten Dunst). When he takes some stolen toys to Leigh’s church as a donation, Jeffrey (now going by the name John) proves a hit and the pair start dating, with Leigh oblivious to her new fella’s status as a wanted man. LaKeith Stanfield is Jeffrey’s friend and criminal associate, while Ben Mendelsohn and Uzo Aduba play a pastor and his wife.

It’s astonishing how much of Roofman is based on fact, something that’s confirmed by closing credits which interview some of the real-life players. Shot on grainy, subdued 35mm, it’s an aesthetic which grounds the quirky story in grittiness. The actors, too, keep things credible. Tatum turns in a lovely, entirely natural performance as the eagle-eyed yet recklessly impulsive Jeffrey; he’s become really relaxed as an actor over the years and is more than matched by the always sensational Dunst. The end product is a thoroughly charming, if slightly insubstantial story of good intentions and disastrous decisions.

Roofman is shown at BFI London Film Festival, Wednesday 15 October; in cinemas from Friday 17 October.