Headhunters (2012)

None yet... Got one?

• 
  
  May 22, 2013

  mumby1988

  In the aftermath of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, there has been an explosion of interest in Scandinavian thrillers and crime dramas. The popularity of Borgen, Wallander and The Killing (amongst others) has also led to a number of English-language adaptations, with Kenneth ... read moreBranagh starring in the acclaimed remake of Wallander and David Fincher helming his own version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
  
  As with all trends, however, it doesn't take long for the cutting-edge to become a cliché. The fact that Midsummer Murders is one of the most popular programmes in Denmark suggests that the popularity of Scandinavian crime stories lies more in a fascination with cultural differences than any inherent difference in quality. Words like 'bleak' and 'gritty' have become redundant descriptors for these stories, and for all their merits, their general pervasion leaves you crying out for something different. All of which brings us to Headhunters, a great little thriller which takes the gritty, stylish aesthetic of these stories and douses it with a lot of dark humour.
  
  Purely from a technical standpoint, Headhunters is one of the most breathless and efficient thrillers in the post-Bourne era. Its first half hour in particular is frenetic, with its need to set up all the plot points trumped by its greater need to keep the story and action barrelling along at a break-neck pace. But unlike the many Bourne imitators, who have misinterpreted and misused Paul Greengrass' aesthetic, the film is not needlessly flashy in its shooting style. There is some hand-held stuff during the scenes in the woods, but otherwise there are plenty of tripods to go round.
  
  Because of this breathlessness, Headhunters avoids one of the big traps of the crime thriller genre - namely the belief that a bleak, forbidding atmosphere can only be achieved by slow pacing. The film does slow down at certain points, allowing the more intimate moments to breathe and to increase the tension during the near-misses in the chase. But Tyldum Mortem is careful never to let these scenes drag or otherwise interfere with the fun. This steady hand works in the film's favour in the opposite way: it gives off such a level of confidence that we don't ever get the sense that it would all fall apart if it did slow down.
  
  The film also boasts great cinematography, courtesy of John Andreas Andersen. The opening section is incredibly stylish, with a crisp, glossy feel akin to The Social Network or the thrillers of Michael Mann. As the various plot points develop, Anderson matches the darker comedy with harsher and nastier tones, turning the colour palette right down and lightening the blood in a realistic manner. What little special effects there are in the film are also effective thanks to Andersen's work; we know full well that a real dog wasn't killed in the film, but it looks so real that you do stop and wonder, if only for a second.
  
  On top of any visual similarities, the plot of Headhunters knowingly tips its hat to a number of other thrillers. There is a close comparison to the Coen Brothers' debut Blood Simple; both have a ruthless efficiency and are characterised by a balance of dark humour and dramatic tension. Making the main character an art thief immediately calls to mind The Thomas Crown Affair, though the film is tonally closer to the John McTiernan remake than the original. The truck sequence is arguably an elaborate reference to Steven Spielberg's Duel, and the scenes in the hospital are highly reminiscent of The Fugitive.
  
  It's perfectly possible to enjoy Headhunters as a well-oiled machine, an efficient genre exercise. It is ultimately a film concerned more with pacing than with substance or insight, with the need to keep things moving occasionally working against its attempts at emotional depth. But it also has a few ideas of its own which set it apart from many of the films it is referencing or taking after. As clichéd as it is to describe it in such a manner, it is more introspective and self-aware than many British or other English-language thrillers borne from similar material.
  
  One of the film's main themes is reputation. Roger Brown is a man whose life is built around both his own personal reputation and the belief that reputation is the only thing that matters. He steals priceless works of art to fund his lifestyle and make his wife happy, ensuring that they can be seen at the right parties and own the house that everyone wants. His job involves making judgements on people based on others' opinions of them and concerns about the images of the companies he serves. His numerous misfortunes as the film goes on find him discovering that this frame of mind is deeply damaging: his desire for status is ultimately what leads to the affair and his life falling apart around him.
  
  The central conflict between Roger and Clas Greve furthers this theme, and asks a supplementary question about the importance of empathy over ambition. In their final showdown in Ove's house, Clas appears to have the upper hand. He stands lean and elegant against the shrinking, pathetic Roger, and ridicules him for lacking the power and will to keep the things he wanted. Roger then trumps him with the reveal about the bullets, signifying his motives were the better ones. He chose the love of his wife over the satisfaction of the deal, and after hours of running, he finally defeats his opponent.
  
  Like many thrillers, Headhunters plays with the idea of deceitful appearances. Clas starts off as a distinctive client of Roger's, smartly dressed, straight to the point and a worthy opponent at the dinner table. He then becomes a ruthless soldier and hunter, then a soldier at the centre of a murky corporate deal, and finally a thrill-seeking killer comprising all of the above. On paper it all sounds fanciful, but Tyldum's direction holds the character and conceit together. Every time you think you can't go with a plot point, he pulls back and concentrates on making Clas threatening, thereby ensuring that we take him seriously even if we don't entirely understand him.
  
  As I said before, Headhunters is more concerned with pacing than with substance. It doesn't contain any great insights into the world of art crime, or make any point like Killing Them Softly about how crime and big business are essentially built on identical foundations. But in spite of this it is supremely entertaining, possessing not just a good amount of pure spectacle (e.g. the truck scene) but also a number of rounded, believable characters underscored by excellent levels of tension.
  
  Being a dark comedy, our empathy for Roger comes as much from wanting him to succeed as it does from a degree of pity for what happens to him. Aksel Hennie has the same distressed, worldly-worn look that Steve Buscemi has in Fargo, and Tyldum truly puts his character through the mill, forcing him to lug bodies around, sit on poisonous spikes, shave his head in a stream and even hide in human faeces to evade Clas early in the chase. The dark humour also extends to the supporting characters, with Ove's 'shootouts' with his favourite hooker and the recurring appearance of the two fat policemen.
  
  The secret of Headhunters' success, as both a black comedy and a tense thriller, is its constant capacity to surprise us. Tyldum is brilliant at taking a comedic moment and turning it into a source of great tension - we go from watching Roger sink slowly into the latrine to Clas staring down at the toilet roll through which (unbeknownst to him) Roger is breathing. He also perfects this in reverse: we see Roger being followed by what he thinks is Clas' car, and he careers off the road, only to find that it was a tractor all along.
  
  Headhunters is a brilliant darkly comic thriller which breathes new life into a sub-genre which is threatened with becoming stale. While it has a few silly or potentially ludicrous moments, it embraces its pulpy origins and uses audience familiarity to make its surprises stand out all the more. Morten Tyldum directs beautifully, with the perfect balance of terror and humour coming through with the efforts of a great cast. Above all it's a supremely entertaining piece of cinema which gives the Coen Brothers a run for their money.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  April 7, 2013

  jarobb3

  Not quite the Thomas Crown Affair, but definitely a well-made, fast-paced thriller.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  April 1, 2013

  itsjustme2004

  These suspenseful, intrigue, twist and turn movies aren't really my cup of tea. This one included..even though I recognize that it was a well done film, contained some really good actors, and had some rather interesting scenes. I do have my exceptions to the rule (for example the... read more Jason Bourne movies), but apparently this one didn't fit into that category...

  Share This Review
• 
  
  February 28, 2013

  kiriyamakazou

  Headhunters is a film I was sure was going to be a cool Scandinavian hesit flick. I was so wrong, as this was just so much more. Hennie is fantastic as Roger Brown, a headhunter who uses interviews to obtain information on valuable art which he then intends to steal. He soon come... read mores across Coster-Waldau as Greve, a man with a very rare painting. Just when Brown thinks it's going to be an easy steal things become more and more complicated, until Brown is running for his life in some of the most madcap and insane ways imaginable. Headhunters works thanks to the unpredictability of the narrative. Sure, you could probably guess quite a few of the twists and turns, but not exactly how they turn out. Tyldum (a director to watch), uses extreme moments of violence to shock you in scenes that take cartoonish action to new (often grotesque) heights. The editing is brilliant, never losing track of what is transpiring on screen, and there is even a lot of emotional weight given to Brown and the relationship he has with his wife. An enjoyable thriller that hints at a lot more to come from everyone involved.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  February 14, 2013

  SirPant

  Headhunters proves that it's not all about the big budget, it's the story that counts. The performances are also good but what makes Headhunters so good is its unpredictability. You may think you know what is going to happen but 20 minutes in and it all goes out the window, and t... read morehe twists and turns to let up until the end credits role down. It is everything a good thriller should be.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  January 2, 2013

  fb100001581602053

  It's a lot of ingenious, insane ideas loosely tied together by an "okay, so I guess this is happening now" narrative ribbon.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  October 23, 2012

  spielberg00

  The term "action thriller" has deteriorated ever so nastily from what it meant decades ago. Back in the twentieth century, the genre was laudable for its intoxicating ability to mold suspense with grit. Nowadays, good ol' Hollywood has taken charge of the genre, and withered it... read more down to nothing but a pile of special effects and corny jokes, only enjoyable with a few buckets of popcorn handy. Although Headhunters would have still been a stunning cell from the mind of a genius back in the late '70s or early '80s, it's manna from heaven during this era. The film is Norwegian, but who's to say that Norway doesn't know how to bring us back to the time when "edge-of-your-seat thrills" were self-explanatory?

  Share This Review
• 
  
  September 7, 2012

  allan913

  A slick and wickedly entertaining edge of your seat thriller, it`s exciting and constantly surprising and will trick you every step of the way. A spectacular thrill-ride that pulls you in like you wouldnt believe. It`s tense, taunt and loaded with riveting drama and explosive act... read moreion. One of the coolest, sharpest and most stylish crime films of the year. An energetic and full-throttle cat and mouse game with all the great elements of a heist movie that has plenty of hard-boiled twist and turns. It will blow you away with its plot, style and witt. A stunningly well-done film. Director, Morten Tyldum crafts a superb masterwork. The characters are complex and compelling and well performend by the cast. Askell Hennine is electrifying. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is brilliant. The two leads work well with one another and square off nicely. A bold. bloody and frighteningly great roller-coaster ride of a suspense thriller. An utterly thrilling and wickedly fun adrenaline-rush. A tremendously cool and truly satisfying crowd pleaser.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  July 25, 2012

  366weirdmovies

  An art thief who uses his position as a corporate headhunter as his cover thinks he's struck a gold mine when he meets a CEO who's perfect for the job he's shopping, and who also happens to own an original Rubens---unfortunately for him, a murder complicates his big score and sen... read moreds him on the run. Hollywood thrillers could learn a thing or two about implausible plot twists from this crazy but crowd-pleasing Norwegian thriller with dashes of black comedy.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  July 15, 2012

  hobster1

  What makes Headhunters so ridiculously engaging is how the narrative develops in a way that you cannot guess the outcome. That's precisely the fun. Like classic suspense of the past, this has the kinds of twists and turns that would make Hitchcock proud. There's one surprise afte... read morer another and the developments are innovative in that way. However I can attest, Headhunters is very much an example of modern storytelling that resembles something by Quentin Tarantino or the Coen brothers. It's bloody and raw. Think Pulp Fiction or Fargo. If you think those are lofty comparisons, you haven't seen this movie. Yet there's a humanism present that sets this apart from those classics and makes this distinctly different. These are people with insecurities and weaknesses that are altogether apparent. In between the action, there is a declaration of love that's incredibly touching. They still long to be loved. The violence never seems gratuitous, only necessary to emphasize the absolute nightmare of which Roger becomes a part. It's a drama that starts slowly but as the tale unfolds it seizes the viewer with brute force. It's pretty over the top. There's a depiction of an auto accident where I literally forgot to breathe for 60 seconds. But that's the standard set piece prevalent here and that's what makes this thriller so exhilarating.

  Share This Review

• Aksel Hennie as Roger Brown
• Synnove Macody Lund as Diana Brown
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Clas Greve
• Eivind Sander as Ove Kikerud
• Julie ??lgaard
• Julie R. Olgaard as Lotte
• Joachim Rafaelsen as Brugd

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  The Usual Suspects (0%)
• 
  Following (100%)
• 
  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (0%)
• 
  The Girl Who Played with Fire (Flickan som le... (0%)

• • Roger Brown: Sounds like something from a movie.
• • Roger Brown: We have a mark.

No quizzes for Headhunters. Want to create one?

• Headhunters (Uk)

• agustinlugo
• chuankung1
• ashadowskull

No recent headlines. Got one?

• 

  Hotel movies

  by rottentomatoes...
  5 Movies
• 

  The Very-Nearly List

  by mumby1988
  85 Movies
• 

  Top 10: Norwegian Films

  by CloudStrife84
  8 Movies
• 

  want to see?

  by jcvrakas
  23 Movies
• 

  Watched movies - Rating

  by skrzypekdanier...
  262 Movies

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?