Synopsis
The hunt is on.
An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
2011 ‘Hodejegerne’ Directed by Morten Tyldum
An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
Aksel Hennie Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Synnøve Macody Lund Julie R. Ølgaard Eivind Sander Baard Owe Valentina Alexeeva Kyrre Haugen Sydness Reidar Sørensen Nils Jørgen Kaalstad Joachim Rafaelsen Mats Mogeland Gunnar Skramstad Johnsen Lars Skramstad Johnsen Signe Tynning Nils Gunnar Lie Sondre Abel Mattis Herman Nyquist Irina Eidsvold Tøien Camilla Augusta Hallan Anjum Salwan
DR Nordisk Film Denmark SVT TV 2 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Yellow Bird ARD¹ Degeto Friland Norsk Filminstitutt
The Headhunters, Huvudjägarna, Cacería implacable, Jo Nesbøs Hodejegerne, Łowcy głów, Jo Nesbø's Headhunters
Thrillers and murder mysteries High speed and special ops Crime, drugs and gangsters robbery, criminal, crime, heist or cops film noir, femme fatale, 1940s, thriller or intriguing action, explosives, exciting, action-packed or villain cops, murder, thriller, detective or crime spy, agent, intrigue, thriller or suspense Show All…
yes, Yes, YES!!!
Now, this is what I'm talking about! It is difficult to come up with a truly original plot for a thriller and Headhunters doesn't have the most original premise, but it's execution betrays a creativity that I haven't seen in this genre in a long, long while.
There is the inevitable point in a film of this type where the main character has to be taken out of his comfort zone in order to create momentum and to create the thrills a film like this relies on. And boy is poor Roger Brown taken out of his comfort zone. The shitstorm that descends on him is one of biblical proportions.
Without getting into the plot it suffices…
Usually, when a film has a tone that's all over the place, it can take me out of the film entirely. Not with Headhunters. For this film, the film uses it's tone and audiences expectations to it's advantage to make room for plenty of twists and turns. It starts out as a serious, straightforward crime drama and then as the plot thickens, it transitions into something more gory, bizarre, and even darkly funny. It kept me on the edge of my seat not only wanting more but guessing what would happen next. That's just one of the reasons why I loved this film. It's also well acted, well directed, superbly written, and exciting from beginning to end. It's loads of fun and one of my favorite films that 2012 has to offer.
If you love films filled with unpredictable twists that keep you guessing, laughing, and surprised on the edge of your seat, this is a must see.
The thriller, which is full of chases and action, offers us a much more interesting plot and the course of the film, which is well done in all parts and moments and composed into one brutal, but also perfectly complex story. Literally, each part of the film is well connected with the thriller, ie its action throughout the film, and with each new event the interest grows, but we are also delighted with its actions through which the protagonist goes and manages to somehow stay. His very plan to make everything perfect according to plan works great, this is a very original thriller, ie its twists and turns that completely surprise you and increase your attention and interest in the…
For someone like me, to get what he wants, only one thing matters: Money. A lot of money.
-Roger Brown
The only thing I really knew about Headhunters is that, on average, it had a high rating from Letterboxd users. I didn't watch the trailer, didn't read any reviews, didn't even check it's freshness on RottenTomatoes. This Norwegian film, that I had never heard of outside of Letterboxd, turned out to be one of the best thrillers of 2012.
The plot of the film exists just outside of reality, but is still quite close to it. Unless crazy situations like this are a common occurrence in Norway, if so then i stand corrected. In the first act of the film…
A film with twists, turns, a dark streak of humour, a cat and mouse film, the lead character goes through some challenging things here that take him out of his comfort zone providing a character that I cared about even though he's not really a nice person, stealing art and cheating. It's a entertaining, suprising thriller.
The highest grossing Norwegian film of all time, Headhunters marked out Morten Tyldum as a sharp-eyed director to watch, adapting as he does Jo Nesbo's celebrated crime thriller and fashioning from it a highly entertaining, frequently sparky piece of Scandinavian noir that stands uniquely alone in the annals of the crime thriller. A deep rooted vein of twisted black comedy resides within Tyldum's film, which takes Aksel Hennie's opportunistic corporate headhunter on a visceral, dangerous ride into a story of murder, betrayal and conspiracy, yet does so with remarkable chutzpah - even managing to balance some truly bonkers black comedy thriller sequences with a through line of dramatic discovery, something not many pictures can boast about not just getting away…
Headhunters is based on the novel by Jo Nesbø and directed by Morten Tyldum. Tyldum is an extremely solid director who only has had one real misfire (Passengers). His work in TV, Counterpart, is especially worth checking out. Headhunters is a Coen Brothers-esque film with incredibly dark humor, extreme suspense, and moments of gory, cathartic violence. At times this felt like the Norwegian version of "No Country For Old Men".
I don't really want to go into spoilers because this film is best enjoyed going in completely fresh. I'll just say that Aksel Hennie gives a wicked performance as his character arc is extremely.... just see it for yourself. It's fun seeing an early Nikolaj Coster-Waldau before he blew up…
There’s a scene with a guy joyriding a tractor covered in human feces with a dead dog impaled to one of the tines. ‘Nuff said.
It's a pretty good indicator of just how lazy those who work in the film based media can be these days. After all, can you find a single sodding review in newspapers, magazines or film websites of Headhunters that doesn't make a mention of Stieg Larsson and/or his Millennium trilogy?
Because, let's face it, him and Jo Nesbo both wrote/write crime fiction and they're both from that cold bit at the top of Europe! Christ on a bike, with the similarities never end?! Next they'll be telling us they both wear socks! Headhunters is really nothing like that.
It is instead a crime thriller about a company headhunter who also happens to be an art thief on the side. When…
This film is the clearest example of sneaking out to find a pleasant film by any means that is ultimately worthwhile without any pretensions.
So why did I choose to see this one? Honestly only for Nikolaj Coster-
Waldau because unfortunately and fortunately (yes, both) many like me only saw it for him, I can almost bet on it. Waldau is from the beginning a good actor who has made interesting appearances since the beginning of his career but because of having been in Game of Thrones, his own image has been eclipsed. Even so, he is not one of his most outstanding films, and for the same reason, I still don't understand why he didn't play Roger since Aksel…
Ohhh Jaime Lannister... You are one smooth SOB when talking in your native tongue. You are one of the coolest, most suave villains I've seen in a while.
And Headhunters perfectly accentuates Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's brilliant performance.
This taut Norwegian thriller is an unexpected punch to gut in the form of explosive violence, genuine suspense, and cool characters. It's an extremely well made movie and looking back, I'd probably say it was one of the best of last year.
The film is heavy on exposition and characterization, and this is something that pays off in the long run. The characters are all relatable in their own ways, and I found myself to be personally pulled a couple different ways. It's a…