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Headhunters (2011)

Director: Morten Tyldum

Time Out rating

Average user rating

18 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

What’s the worst thing that can happen to a movie character? Shot, stabbed, beaten, tortured? How about exiled, chased, shot, impaled, betrayed, sacked, savaged by a pitbull, involved in a tractor crash, chucked off a cliff and forced to hide under six feet of human shit?

Luckily, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. Director Morten Tyldum’s juggernaut thriller, based on Norwegian author Jo Nesbø’s bestselling novel, stems from a simple but hugely satisfying idea: serve up an eminently hissable central character, in this case part-time art thief and full-time corporate douchebag Roger (Aksel Hennie, who looks like the love child of Steve Buscemi and Rupert Grint). Then sit back and smile as he tangles with the wrong folks and is subjected to the most humiliating indignities this smart, streamlined script can invent.

When we meet Roger, he’s happily married to a gorgeous woman (Synnøve Macody Lund), having a fling on the side and preparing to help himself to the priceless Munch lithograph owned by high-flying Swedish executive and former elite soldier Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Of course, we know it’s all a ploy – that Greve is luring Roger in for his own devious reasons, and that things are about to go horribly wrong – but it’s how Nesbø and Tyldum spring the trap that’s so enjoyable to watch.

It’s a timely film, too: while Nesbø and Tyldum’s prime directive is to give their audience a good bracing shake, they also find time to throw in a few witty, thoughtful asides about personal responsibility and the ways in which the relentless pursuit of wealth conflict with the achievement of true happiness. Bankers and business types may prickle at their blanket portrayal as greedy, self-serving misanthropes, but it serves to slot the film neatly within the current anti-capitalist zeitgeist.

But none of this would matter a jot if Tyldum didn’t have such a firm grasp of his material. The plot moves like a rocket, the despicable characters are marvellously sketched, and if ‘Headhunters’ is not always entirely convincing (a few twists take a bit of swallowing), it’s always deliriously entertaining. Anyone tired of the surly, leather-jacketed seriousness of the ‘Millennium’ trilogy and looking for more spark and spice in their Scandinavian crime sagas need seek no further. Pure joy.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2172: April 5-11, 2012

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User reviews of this film

villardi said...

Posted on May 03 2012 17:49 Really well made and exciting movie, unlike nearly anything I'd seen before. Much more imaginative and off the wall than the last 100 US thrillers I've seen. Loved the characters and plot and almost had to look away at times during the chase in the farm. You'll see what I mean. More like these please.

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Ian said...

Posted on May 01 2012 23:04 Lovely dark humour, witty and gripping, moral Nordic fairytale of money, greed love - with proper bogeyman and hapless bumbling hero. Europeans are far more confident and deft filmmakers than hopeless Hollywood. This is entertainment.

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Thurman Murman said...

Posted on Apr 29 2012 13:31 Janet, stick to cartoons if you struggled with this.

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janet said...

Posted on Apr 29 2012 07:48 What am I not getting? Thought this one of the worst films i have seen for a long time- ridiculous, every thing so sign-posted you knew what was going to happen way before it did, silly and implausible. Plus characters that had no substance. The only thing I liked was the dog. I just dont get what you all enjoyed in it..... tell me!

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Apr 26 2012 01:30 Enjoyed..........but was I alone in thinking it was a LITTLE bit too pleased with itself? 7/10

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good but... said...

Posted on Apr 25 2012 21:00 I did like this, but with reservations. It was probably the most puke-inducingly gruesome, disgusting film I've ever seen. The violence to dogs was also a bit uncomfortable. But it was a very good, blackly comic thriller, and a bit unusual.

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Paul said...

Posted on Apr 20 2012 23:39 Nothing like a Timeout review that can plot spoil n the open paragraph, but I'm with Nick that this is a witty laugh out loud type of film that could be remade with Simon Pegg.when Hollywood gets round to it. Great fun

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nick said...

Posted on Apr 19 2012 17:38 Absolutely brilliant.

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Blaize67 said...

Posted on Apr 18 2012 07:59 Great little thriller. Original and with some dry as toast Nordic humour. If you don't mind ST then this is a fab Fri night out. Recommended.

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critique said...

Posted on Apr 13 2012 15:40 Like Nick below, I took this to be dark comedy as much as thriller. Not helped by the Roger Brown character putting me in mind of a Nordic Richard Hammond, only with even worse hair.

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Nick said...

Posted on Apr 13 2012 11:39 I dont think the film is meant to eeb taken too serioulsy. I spent a lot of time supressing laughter and then laughing out loud - all in a good way.Great fun - a macabre comedy more than a thriller.

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UglyGeezer said...

Posted on Apr 13 2012 09:11 Saw this last week and it felt really fresh. A decent on the edge of your seat thriller. Yes there are plot-holes galore, but it's a great ride. If you're a fan of the Coen Brothers or were enthralled by The Usual Suspects this film will please. Give the lead an Oscar America (superb!) but please don't remake it.

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Mike said...

Posted on Apr 13 2012 08:14 I'm glad I've seen this film, as soon after the Oscars good films are often hard to find. That said, I found some of the plot too clever, too well tied up, perhaps a little smug.
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This film's from the same stable as the original 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' (Yellow Bird - production). It's a good well-paced thriller, but there comes a point where some of the plot becomes so totally unbelievable - mainly because it's all too convenient. Well-acted, well-photographed, but somehow lacking something.
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ARCHGATE (below) jokes that Hollywood's bound to pick up the rights on this film and attempt a remake, as with their ham-fisted "Girl with the dragon tattoo". Many a true word spoken in jest. If you click the "Press" link on the YellowBird website you'll see Hollywood's already bought the English language version (groan).
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Conclusion: Not sure I'd bust a gut to see this, but given what else is on offer right now, it made for a good evening's entertainment. Three stars.

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Justin Berkovi said...

Posted on Apr 10 2012 15:14 Absolutely fantastic fun. This was way better than I expected and wonderfully acted by Aksel Hennie. This is why I like going to the cinema - I'm not going to reveal any of the plot but just go and see it, it's a full on film from start to finish and hugely enjoyable.

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Sutton said...

Posted on Apr 08 2012 16:29 Superb ! Best film so far in 2012, it had everything, fast paced, humour, suspense and a moral. I've sat through far too many average art house and critic worshipped films this year, but this was pure enjoyment. Sure, there are a few 'stretched' points, but this was a very good film.

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