Directed by: Morten Tyldum. Written by Jo Nesbø. On UK general release
Corporate headhunter Roger (Aksel Hennie) seems to have it all but between bankrolling his wife's gallery and paying for their lavish lifestyle, he's in a financial hole. So, indulging his addiction to danger, he moonlights as a cat burglar, stealing his clients’ highly fence-able art. When his wife introduces him to the handsome, enigmatic Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Roger thinks he's hit the jackpot but soon finds himself battling for survival against a very different kind of headhunter …
Slick and blackly funny, Headhunters is a parable for our recessionary age. The neurotic Roger is not a particularly likeable hero but we root for him because we know him. He's living way beyond his means, trying to keep his head above water. To succeed in business these days it seems you have to be an amoral thief willing to do anything (including murder in Greve's case) to get ahead. Roger is almost a sacrificial lamb for us as an audience, paying for our economic sins.
There's nothing particularly fresh or new about Headhunters, but it's a robust piece of high-octane filmmaking. Fast, furious, and bloody fun, see it before Hollywood pulls its teeth and produces a slick, soulless cover version.
Askel Hennie in Headhunters, a Magnet Release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
