Headhunters (2012)

Dreadfully Boring

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Skandikrimi ( abb.Scandinavian criminal ) genre may not offer as much titles or shows as their Hollywood counterparts , but when they do it will grip you.There is something truly terrifying watching a film with a language not your own, but with the ingenous help of subtitles, the viewer is able to follow the story without blinking for a second. The main character is played by Aksel Hennie, whom I have seen in smaller productions and is a truly gifted actor. There are shots that he will remind you of Steve Buscemi, another underrated character actor. But the tempo of this film goes from office gloss to adrenaline-packed brutality. Some scenes will make you want to check their animal welfare credits, as it is realistic painful-looking, also bloody brutal but well-presented. Knock on wood that it would not be remade. Leave this film as is.

An alright thriller with two truly great scenes.1. Roger burying himself in all the fecal matter at the bottom of a porta potty, using the cardboard of the toilet paper roll as a breathing hole.2. The twist of whether or not his wife was trying to kill him. In the garage when he finds the dead body of his security helper buddy in his car and then his wife comes out to check on him...damn what a situation for both of them to be in. It was fun and nerve-wracking watching both of them trying to guess what the other knows.Great stuff there, though the rest is just OK. Short man gets his hot wife and saves the day and all is forgotten and forgiven. Who knew that getting married meant your wife actually loves you? Who knew she meant it when she said she wants kids?

Roger Brown is a brash corporate headhunter in Norway. He spends more money than he has on his statuette wife Diana with her model looks who runs an art gallery. He's trying to compensate for his short statue but the one thing she really wants is a child. He cheats on her with Lotte and is also an art thief to support his extravagant spending. He and his unstable partner-in-crime Ove Kjikerud replace the originals with forgeries to buy time. Diana introduces Roger to a wealthy former-businessman Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau).I love this character with his inferiority complex. He's a Napolean figure and I like his marital relationship. He's a fresh take on the art thief. Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau is a great threatening presence. The chase thriller is great. However there are a couple of unreal twists at the end. The ending should be more interesting.

I can't help myself. I'm awfully jaded at this point in my movie- viewing career and the thing I look for and care about most is originality. I really like odd, weird, or different, since I've seen nearly every possible permutation of normal and ordinary by now. That's why an unusual plot like this automatically scores a few extra points in my book, regardless of its other merits (or demerits, for that matter).Now, I don't want to give anything away here, but this movie gets pretty bloody and grim around halfway through, and I never thought it could be tied up in a neat fashion, but I was very wrong. It's slowly developing, but ultimately really original, gripping and twisty (twisted?). Definitely another hidden gem in the foreign thriller category--make it through the slow build-up and the brutality and violence that follows, and you will be well-rewarded at the end. I promise.