Headhunters

Pretty boy Aksel Hennie (ginger beauty on a par with Julian Rhind-Tutt), proves to be well cast in this frantic thriller. Starting as an arrogant self-important but clearly insecure (at just 5'6")office type, he soon shows his coolness in robbing job candidates of their fine art. The story is inventive and translates well to the screen in this version directed by Morten Tyldum. The action soon turns horrifying and Aksel Hennie has the perfect physiognomy to illustrate the change without recourse to words. You really do travel this terrible journey with him and it is truly terrifying. You begin to empathise with a man you have no reason to like, and that is saying something! Thank goodness there is no smell-o-vision as Roger Brown seeks refuge in a cesspool. There's nowhere for him to go and no way of hiding. You do feel he will never survive - and this takes you right to the penultimate scenes. A marvellous tour de force by all involved. Hurrah! A brilliant film at last!

Roger Brown has a pretty good life. By day, he's a corporate recruiter (headhunter) who goes home at night to a magnificent house and stunning wife. Unfortunately, Roger's insecurities (he's only 5'6") lead him to seek a lifestyle well beyond his means. How does he make up the difference between his income and expenses? High-priced art theft, of course.

Such is the premise of "Headhunters," a terrific Norwegian film that follows up its run at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival with a general release. The film garnered quite a lot of buzz at the Festival and, after a recent screening, it's easy to see why. A mixture of crime/heist drama, action/suspense thriller, and love story, it's what the 1999 version of "The Thomas Crown Affair" might have looked like if it had been directed by Sam Peckinpah.

Brown, played by Aksel Hennie, is looking for one big score to settle him for life. Circumstances bring that possibility to him, but things are not what they seem. Things go wrong - very, very wrong - and Roger finds himself in deep, deep sh** (literally as well as figuratively.) To say much more would spoil the intricate plot (I'll leave that to the trailer,) but suffice it to say you should just sit back, buckle up, and enjoy the ride. This film has more twists and turns than a fjord-side road.

Fast paced and extremely violent in spots, this film is not for the squeamish. If you can get through a little (well, a lot) of body mutilation, high impact body trauma and the occasional spearing, you'll find yourself enjoying (yes, I said it – enjoying) a cinematic thrill ride that puts its American counterparts (see Ocean's Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen, etc.) to shame.

Catch it before the typical half-assed American remake appears…

www.worstshowontheweb.com

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

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.

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.