Based on the book by best-selling author Jo Nesbo, Headhunters is a slick, testosterone-fuelled action thriller dotted with clever, unexpected humour.
The opening scene of Headhunters unfolds like a luxury car advert as the newly awoken but impeccably groomed Roger Brown swans around his swanky Norwegian flat. He kisses his tall, Heidi Klum-like wife and introduces us to the money he’s willing to spend, and the risks he’s willing to take to keep up his reputation. Those risks involve stealing precious works of art and selling them off for ludicrous amounts while he simultaneously makes a name for himself in the higher echelons of the recruitment business.
The guy is undeniably slick and shamelessly smarmy, but as he introduces himself, he makes a point of his bizarrely amplified self-awareness thanks to his 1.68m height (about 5’6”). Director Morten Tyldum and the author of the original novel, Jo Nesbo, use this intense case of short-man syndrome to somehow drive Roger’s descent into a barely believable, but incredibly fun action thriller that plays out like a glossy testosterone-fuelled fantasy.
At the opening of his wife’s swanky art gallery he meets Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), the former CEO of a satellite navigation technology company who looks like he walked right out of a perfume ad. Clas also owns an incredibly expensive painting and Roger sees dollar signs as he tries to recruit Greve for an executive position at Pathfinder and makes plans to steal the art. But it’s never a good idea to steal from someone who makes a living tracking people.
By the end of the movie Roger’s been beaten, stabbed, driven off a cliff, crushed in a car and managed to survive it all with the love of his stunning wife as both their dreams finally come true. It’s impossible to predict the twists and turns in this satisfyingly ludicrous plot that has a surprisingly soft heart at its centre. It leads us to some moments of delectable hilarity but the ending leaves a disappointing aftertaste. Though the final scenes beg for something gritty and gruesome, they are replaced by a sickly sweet happy ending but one that is easily forgiven given the riot we witness before it.
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