Headhunters
2/4
Starring: Askel Hennie, Synnove Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Eivind Sander, Julie R. Olgaard
Rated R for Bloody Violence including Some Grisly Images, Strong Sexual Content and Nudity
"Headhunters" is a thriller with a couple of neat twists and smart characters. Those are rare in movies these days. Unfortunately, a confusing story and a lack of an interesting protagonist keeps the film from ascending to the greatness it strives for.
Roger Brown (Hennie) is a headhunter for a business in Norway. He's married to the beautiful Diana (Lund), who has expensive tastes. To supplement his income in order to make her happy, Roger steals artwork and fences them. A new man in town named Clas Greve (Coster-Waldau) turns out to be in possession of a very valuable painting that was stolen by the Nazis during WWII. It's so valuable that if he were to get his hands on it, he and Diana would be set for life. The robbery goes off without a hitch, but it doesn't take long for Clas to realize what had happened, and he'll stop at nothing to get revenge.
I love a good cat-and-mouse thriller. For some reason, the psychological gamesmanship of a good movie of this ilk appeals to me. There are times when "Headhunters" shows flashes of brilliance, but for the most part the film is kind of a bore.
That's because Roger isn't a very interesting protagonist. The character is both flatly written and acted. I never cared if he lived or died, which dramatically limits the amount of tension. Additionally, the lack of involvement on my part makes the seams in the plot magnified. A lot of leeway can be granted in a film's plot if the tension reaches high enough levels ("Twister" is a good example), but that's not the case here.
Apart from Hennie, the cast acquits themselves reasonably well. Synnove Macody Lund is wonderful as Diana. Not only is it a good performance, she has genuine screen presence and appeal. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, an effective actor known mainly for playing Jaime Lannister on "Game of Thrones" (unseen by me), is decent, but lacks true menace. Eivind Sander is good as Ove, Roger's partner-in-crime, as is Julie R. Olgaard, who plays Lotte, Roger's mistress.
Director Morten Tyldum manages to generate some tense scenes here and there (including one where Roger hides in an outhouse and another where he has to shave his head), but sometimes the film moves so fast that it's hard to keep up with (particularly where Roger explains how he pulled off one of his cons). Tyldum doesn't waste time on character development, which is a risky move. That can work if the actors are well directed and are likable and interesting. That's not the case here, sadly. Maybe the inevitable remake (which was in the pipeline at one point, according James Berardinelli, but it's not listed on iMDb) will be better.
Starring: Askel Hennie, Synnove Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Eivind Sander, Julie R. Olgaard
Rated R for Bloody Violence including Some Grisly Images, Strong Sexual Content and Nudity
"Headhunters" is a thriller with a couple of neat twists and smart characters. Those are rare in movies these days. Unfortunately, a confusing story and a lack of an interesting protagonist keeps the film from ascending to the greatness it strives for.
Roger Brown (Hennie) is a headhunter for a business in Norway. He's married to the beautiful Diana (Lund), who has expensive tastes. To supplement his income in order to make her happy, Roger steals artwork and fences them. A new man in town named Clas Greve (Coster-Waldau) turns out to be in possession of a very valuable painting that was stolen by the Nazis during WWII. It's so valuable that if he were to get his hands on it, he and Diana would be set for life. The robbery goes off without a hitch, but it doesn't take long for Clas to realize what had happened, and he'll stop at nothing to get revenge.
I love a good cat-and-mouse thriller. For some reason, the psychological gamesmanship of a good movie of this ilk appeals to me. There are times when "Headhunters" shows flashes of brilliance, but for the most part the film is kind of a bore.
That's because Roger isn't a very interesting protagonist. The character is both flatly written and acted. I never cared if he lived or died, which dramatically limits the amount of tension. Additionally, the lack of involvement on my part makes the seams in the plot magnified. A lot of leeway can be granted in a film's plot if the tension reaches high enough levels ("Twister" is a good example), but that's not the case here.
Apart from Hennie, the cast acquits themselves reasonably well. Synnove Macody Lund is wonderful as Diana. Not only is it a good performance, she has genuine screen presence and appeal. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, an effective actor known mainly for playing Jaime Lannister on "Game of Thrones" (unseen by me), is decent, but lacks true menace. Eivind Sander is good as Ove, Roger's partner-in-crime, as is Julie R. Olgaard, who plays Lotte, Roger's mistress.
Director Morten Tyldum manages to generate some tense scenes here and there (including one where Roger hides in an outhouse and another where he has to shave his head), but sometimes the film moves so fast that it's hard to keep up with (particularly where Roger explains how he pulled off one of his cons). Tyldum doesn't waste time on character development, which is a risky move. That can work if the actors are well directed and are likable and interesting. That's not the case here, sadly. Maybe the inevitable remake (which was in the pipeline at one point, according James Berardinelli, but it's not listed on iMDb) will be better.
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