Headhunters: Grade B

B

Headhunters (2011)

Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau; Director Morten Tyldum (Norwegian, subtitled).

The main character is Roger (Hennie), a successful corporate executive recruiter (“headhunter”), who is on the edge of financial collapse, living beyond his means to keep a trophy wife (Lund) happy. To supplement his income he steals and fences fine art. He learns that Clas Greve, an executive applicant (Coster-Waldau) has a major painting worth millions, and the plot is on. It turns out however that Greve is actually a hard-as-steel ex mercenary who does not take the theft kindly and pursues Roger, leaving a trail of bodies. The police get on to Roger and now are after him for murder. For the last half of the film, the most fun part, Roger is desperately on the run.

The story has too many logical flaws to be satisfying as a thriller, but as a kinetic action crime drama it is good looking, fast-moving, mostly original, surprising, suspenseful, and with a large dose of humor that ranges from dark and macabre to outright silly. It also has plenty of violence, blood, and gore. For all that, it is above average for the genre.