Headhunters

Touted as the next Stieg Larsson (or if you prefer, Norway's answer to Sweden's other major literary export, Henning Mankell), Jo Nesbo's Headhunters had already been earmarked for a (no doubt inferior) US remake before it was even released overseas.

Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a 168cm recruitment consultant with a big house, a beautiful wife and an inferiority complex that drives him to moonlight as an art thief. The prosaically named protagonist is no Thomas Crown - he steals to keep a (wildly overleveraged) roof over his head and only pockets a measly 30% of the revenue from his ill-gotten gains. Even his appearance is counterintuitive - more bug eyed Steve Buscemi than suited and booted Bond. Even so, there's more going on here than meets the eye, but suffice to say that his real troubles start when he decides to go after The Big One - the retirement score that will put an end to his financial troubles and allow him to keep his ridiculously attractive wife in the style to which he's become accustomed.

To say anything more about the plot would be superfluous, but I will take a moment to admire the confidence of the director Morten Tyldum. Headhunters is, in a sense, typically Scandinavian - stark, brooding and with as much silence as dialogue. The style here serves the substance - the camera is often completely immobile, forcing the audience to concentrate on what's going on, a complete contrast to the craftsmanship/gimmickry more typical of glossy mainstream thrillers coming out of the US. Rather than spoonfeeding the audience every single clue, Headhunters isn't afraid to lead the unwitting watcher on a merry dance. Naturally the whole enterprise rests on the small but perfectly formed cast, particularly Hennie, with whom we slowly come to empathise, and the more typically suave Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau as the former exec with a murky past.

If Headhunters has a particular weakness, it's that it spends most of its time descending into increasingly dark (and occasionally graphically violent) territory, while occasionally veering into light hearted caper. This does feel slightly bewildering, but to be honest, it's a relative minor criticism. Headhunters is definitely worth catching (particularly given the woefully slim pickings over the past few months), if not now, then 6 months from now when it premieres on Film Four in the middle of the night. Scandinavians (and cinéastes with a penchant for Northern European film) may be used to this kind of thing, but for the rest of us it's a wonderfully welcome arctic blast through the land's tat filled cinema screens.

Wow. It has been a long time since I've seen a movie this good. The movie tells the story of Roger Brown, a headhunter who also has a side job as an art thief. His latest job goes wrong and things get out of control from there on. If I give any more of the plot, I will spoil the movie for you. And trust me, you don't want that. A big part of what I enjoyed about the movie is watching how crazy things go for Roger.

Apart from the very intelligent story, what really makes the film standout is the character development, especially for the main character Roger Brown played excellently by Aksel Hennie. You start of seeing him one way, but by the end of the movie, your perception of him will definitely change. He goes through a lot (and I mean A LOT) in the movie. While watching the movie I kept thinking, "Man, give this guy a break". The intelligent story has a whole lot of heart as well.

The acting was top notch from the 2 main actors, Aksel Hennie and Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau (who you may know as Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones). Synnøve Macody Lund who play Roger's wife Diana is beautifully good too. I hope she gets more prominent roles after this.

This is one movie you shouldn't miss. There's a Hollywood version in the making but it would be very hard top this original.

The main keywords of this movie are: amazing entertainment. You should not take it too seriously (does not want to be) and you might enjoy it as I did.

The plot is intriguing, the direction perfect, the acting very good, especially Aksel Hennie, but it is the no stop action, the hard and funny scenes and mainly the twist, no way out, complex situation in which is the protagonist, that entertain in here.

The film was able to keep me glued to the chair, to surprise me, to give me suspense and also make me smile. A whole range of emotions that I believe are essential to enjoy a movie of this kind.

A fun and entertain thriller. Highly suggested.

8/10

Headhunters, based on Jo Nesbo's novel of the same, lived up to all my expectations - even though I am not very keen on thrillers in general. It all started out fairly interesting, although I quickly started to dislike the main character, Roger Brown. His snobbish, very self-confident attitude just put me off. However, to support his lavish lifestyle, he steals art to afford everything for his beloved wife and it all ends in a captivating battle of survival. Soon, he is chased by his rival, Clas Greve, and it seems to be an absolutely hopeless escape as Greve is always just a few steps behind. First, I attended the movie with close attention. But in the end, I didn't even dare to breath properly. A highly-recommended, although too bloody, high-quality thriller for everybody!

Im from Norway, and the last years Norwegians movies that are known has been horror movies. So this is a kind of movies we don't get from Norway so very often. That the main actor was good, is no surprise - and he is the actor in many other movies as well. But this is probably the movie i have liked him most. He plays a character that have many flaws, and that does not act like a hero. And the story is a bit twisted - and surprising. I saw it with a friend from Philippines and we both agree that this is one of the best thriller we have seen in 2011. So hurray for this Norwegians movie - and lets hope it will come more in the years that come in this quality.