PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Are you still Robin Hood if you rob from the rich and give to … yourself? So long as you’re poor to start?

I’m not sure if Jeffrey Manchester is a hero — but no one, least of all his victims, seems inclined to label him a villain.

That rings true in the real-life story — Manchester, a serial thief in the late 1990s, was frequently cited for the politeness and care he took while robbing fast-food restaurants and other chains — and in the film “Roofman,” where Channing Tatum plays the title character (so named because he usually drilled into a target business through the roof). While the film makes no grand economic or social statement about Manchester’s crimes, he’s clearly the hero of, at least, his own story.

We meet Manchester at rock bottom; a Navy veteran, he’s now underemployed, divorced and losing access to his three children. He uses his military training to develop an effective and efficient method for armed robbery — usually locking employees in a freezer while he absconds with the money, but only after making sure his hostages take their coats with them — and turns his fortunes around.

After spending a bit too much money, he’s caught and handed a harsh prison sentence: 45 years. He escapes easily but can’t figure out his next move; while waiting for a way out of the country, he takes up residence behind a false wall at a nearby Toys R Us location, where he becomes enamored with an employee, Leigh (Kirsten Dunst).

Dunst and Tatum carry the film, which is directed by “Blue Valentine” helmer Derek Cianfrance, to an easy watchability. While we may be rooting for Manchester to complete his caper and find a way back to freedom and happiness, Cianfrance’s somber tone makes it seem unlikely; it falls to the cast, then, to keep us believing in what always seems like a simulacrum of freedom rather than the real thing.

It’s not quite as profound as it wants to be, but it’s far more enjoyable than it might’ve been. “Roofman” is a curiosity but a pleasant one.

My Rating: 7/10

“Roofman” is now playing in theaters.