Headhunters

Jo Nesbø is one of the most successful thriller authors ever, not only in his home country Norway. Especially his books about the chief inspector Harry Hole are bestsellers worldwide. But now none of the Harry Hole novels has been filmed, but Nesbø's 2008 novel Headhunter, which director Morten Tyldum (Buddy) has turned into a nasty little thriller that starts tamely but then hits quite hard in the second half.

Headhunters centers on Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), who may not be the tallest or handsomest man around. But Roger knows perfectly how to compensate for his shortcomings, impress those around him and - if need be - intimidate them. The fact that Roger is right in his ways is shown not only by his relationship with the beautiful gallery owner Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund) or his fancy designer house, but first and foremost by his success as a headhunter for renowned companies. What no one suspects: Roger lives far beyond his means and therefore needs a side income to maintain his perfect facade. And so he specializes in art theft, whereby his victims are the very people he recruits as headhunters for the companies. Businessman Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) also seems like a perfect candidate, as he is supposedly in possession of a particularly valuable painting. Too bad Clas is a former elite soldier who is not so easily taken in. And so Roger soon loses control and becomes the target of a more than equal opponent...

Due to his opening monologue and his arguably arrogant manner towards his clients/victims, Roger isn't really a likeable character to begin with. Clas, on the other hand, initially seems very charming and charismatic. Director Morten Tyldum manages the feat of completely turning this impression around in the course of the film. More and more the sympathies move to Roger's side, you root for him and hope that he is a match for Clas. But that's not the only stroke of genius Headhunters manages to pull off.

The way the film transforms from an almost amusing rogue thriller to a tangible adrenaline thriller with quite bloody scenes is also simply brilliantly executed. The audience is caught completely off guard by the change (even if you know what's coming after this review), which makes the first slightly more drastic moment all the more effective. However, the fact that the duel between Roger and Clas works perfectly is not only due to the excellent production, but also to the two leads, who do an excellent job of bringing their shady characters to life. Aksel Hennie (Max Manus, A Man of the World), who previously worked with Tyldum on his debut Buddy, makes the transformation from sleazy crook to sympathetic figure perfectly, while Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Night Watch), currently starring in the hit series Game of Thrones, provides many a goosebump moment as a stone-cold professional.

Suspense, humor, drama - Headhunters has it all in such a gripping mix that the 100 minutes of film fly by. For those with an overly sensitive stomach, some scenes in the last third of the film may not be so easy to digest. But otherwise, the novel adaptation can really be recommended to every thriller fan. Absolutely worth seeing!!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp