Headhunters [Blu-ray]

Director: Morten Tyldum

Overview

A man living on both sides of the law is caught in a dangerous game in this thriller from Norwegian director Morten Tyldum. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) makes his living as a corporate recruiter, finding talented people who work for other companies and making them lucrative offers to join the firm currently signing his paychecks. Roger's work brings with it a handsome salary, but he suffers crushing insecurity when it comes to his beautiful wife Diana (Synnove Macody Lund), and he constantly showers her with expensive gifts in hopes of staying on her good side. Between Diana's expectations and the equally expensive tastes of Roger's mistress Lotte (Julie R. Olgaard), Roger needs cash, so he's taken on a high-paying second job -- stealing rare works of art. Roger is just good enough and smart enough to know that he'll get caught eventually, and when he learns of a man with an authentic Rubens, he hopes to make one last score that will keep him well-set for a long time. But Roger soon finds out there's a catch -- the man with the painting is also someone he's supposed to recruit for a client, and he's clearly a few steps ahead of Roger. Hodejegerne (aka Headhunters) was an official selection at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/28/2012
UPC:	0876964004787
Original Release:	2011
Rating:	R
Source:	Magnolia
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	31,475

Special Features

Behind the scenes of Headhunters; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	Clas Greve
Aksel Hennie	Roger Brown,Styreformann
Eivind Sander	Ove Kjikerud
Julie R. ?lgaard	Lotte
Synn?ve Macody Lund	Diana Brown,Actor
Kyrre Haugen Sydness	Jeremias Lander
Reidar S?rensen	Police Investigator
Valentina Alexeeva	Actor
Nils J?rgen Kaalstad	Actor
Joachim Rafaelsen	Actor
Gunnar Skramstad Johnsen	Monsen 1,Monsen 2
Signe Tynning	TV-vertinne
Nils Gunnar Lie	TV-vert
Baard Owe	Sindre Aa
Sondre Abel	?konomisjef
Irina Eidsvold	Patolog
Kyrre Mosleth	Vekter Nils
Martin Furulund	Vekter Per
Mattis Herman Nyquist	Ferdinand
Torgrim Mellum Stene	Atle Nerum
Camilla Augusta Hallan	Sykepleier
Anjum Salwan	Drosjesj?f?r
Daniel Bratterud	Vakt
Petter Ask? N?ss	Pressefotograf
Trond Bjerknes	Composer
Trond Bjerknaes	Composer
Jeppe Kaas	Composer

Technical Credits

Ulf Ryberg

Lars Gudmestad

Jo Nesb?

Jo Nesbo

Ulf Ryberg	Screenwriter
Lars Gudmestad	Screenwriter
Jo Nesb?	Screenwriter
Marianne Gray	Producer
Asle Vatn	Producer
Anni Faurbye Fernandez	Executive Producer
Christian Fredrik Martin	Executive Producer
Ole S?ndberg	Executive Producer
Mikael Wallen	Executive Producer
Olve Askim	Special Effects
Petter Fladeby	Sound Effects
Annie Fernandez	Executive Producer
Ole Sondberg	Executive Producer
Jannelke Bervell	Casting
Tormod Ringnes	Sound/Sound Designer
Jo Nesbo	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Cutthroat corporate competition turns literal -- and messy -- in director Morten Tyldum's Headhunters. A glossy, fast-paced, and darkly-comic thriller from Norway with enough clever twists to keep viewers constantly on their toes, Headhunters brings to mind the Coen brothers' Blood Simple for the way it combines noirish twists and betrayals with wry humor and occasionally shocking violence, while also featuring a surprisingly tender core that details the transformation of a calculated thief and businessman whose towering arrogance plunges him into an intense life-or-death struggle. By day, Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) recruits high-level corporate job candidates; by night, he moonlights as an art thief in order to provide his beautiful wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund) with a sprawling home and sparkling earrings. One night, while attending his wife's art-gallery opening, Roger meets Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a self-assured executive who has just moved to Norway after inheriting his grandmother's apartment and leaving his job at a competing Dutch tech firm. When Roger learns that Clas is currently in possession of Rubens' priceless painting "The Calydonian Boar Hunt," which his grandmother had managed to hide following a tragic affair with a German officer, the cunning larcenist sees an opportunity to pay off his debts and enjoy an early retirement. But in the midst of his greedy scheming, Roger has severely underestimated Clas, and failed to consider that he may have an ulterior motive for this revelation. Later, after getting his hands on the painting, the thief who thought he knew it all finds himself struggling to determine who he can really trust as everyone around him begins dying under suspicious circumstances. Blasting out of the gate with a hyper-stylized title sequence and an urgent voiceover from Roger that details the essential rules of his nefarious trade, the film instantly draws us in by portraying its icy protagonist as a man hanging onto his career -- and relationship -- by a thread. Almost immediately, screenwriters Jo Nesbo (who also penned the novel Headhunters is based on), Ulf Ryberg and Lars Gudmestad go to work creating an air of tension and setting up story elements that will come back into play as Roger gradually realizes that despite his thorough planning and careful execution, he's failed to consider all the possible outcomes of his actions. And with a pointed glare that brings to mind a young Christopher Walken, Hennie brings self-centered Roger to life brilliantly. Even better is that when the script requires the character to evolve both intellectually and physically, he's just as convincing. All the while, the screenwriters are lobbing twists at a pace that propels the plot organically, and the classy, piano-and-strings score gives Headhunters the feel of pulpy, minor work from the Master of Suspense. Given all this, it is little surprise that Summit Entertainment has snatched up the rights for an English-language remake of Headhunters. And perhaps if the director and screenwriters selected to head up that version stick close to the source material, it could be an entertaining diversion; after all, Headhunters is hardly high-art, even if classical paintings are central to the story. But considering Hollywood doesn't necessarily have the best track record with thriller remakes even with the original director at the helm (see George Sluizer's 1993 remake of The Vanishing or Ole Bornedal's 1998 remake of Nightwatch), why wait for a hastily assembled knockoff when the real deal is within reach, and well worth your time?