Review of Headhunters (2011) by Nesbitt10 — 06 Jul 2013

A captivating Scandinavian cat-and-mouse thriller that makes for a tight, incredibly entertaining ride. Director Morten Tyldum’s cinematic rendering offers palpable suspense, plenty of action, and a clever story line that’s hard to come by in the action-thriller genre. Tyldum succeeds by ignoring the particulars of common sense, darting full speed ahead, heaping on the twists with little regard for realism. Tyldum makes this tactic work for the film, constructing a series of imaginatively designed set pieces that are as tense as they are farcical. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, clearly made with an awareness of the silliness of it all, which strengthens the enjoyment of the viewing experience and overall resolution.

Aksel Hennie, who stars as the protagonist Roger Brown, is the go-to person anyone would need as a job reference. The ambitious headhunter is one of the best in his industry with arrogance to spare. His opening monologue about reputation is so seductive it will have you hanging on to his every word. But Jo Nesbø's novel is more than meets the eye, and Mr. Brown has a separate occupation. With his contacts and hundreds of interviews set up with potential candidates for C-level jobs, opportunity comes in setting up the meetings, and then robbing them blind of valuable art, with counterfeits in their place. Roger readily admits he's overspending, with almost all expenses going into impressing his wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund), who is high maintenance, and out of his league.

What seems to be just another mark with his latest job seeker, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), backfires on Roger, as the film kicks into high gear. Roger suspects his wife is having an affair with Clas, a one time mercenary soldier who has found better fortune now as a CEO of a technology company, and who has a long lost painting stored in his Norwegian home. Jo Nesbø's story throws us a line, and hooks us line and sinker, into what turns out to be an extremely engaging, cat and mouse game of battle and wits between these two men.

Director Morten Tylan does a masterful job keeping the suspense in high gear and cohesive narrative throughout. Tylan impressively infuses the films action-oriented moments with a visceral, white-knuckle feel that proves impossible to resist. The inclusion of a few astoundingly tense moments perpetuates the movie's shift into a seriously engrossing piece of cinema. Although the climax isn't quite up to the level of that which preceded it, “Headhunters” has already established itself as one of the most exciting, flat-out captivating thrillers to come around in quite some time.