A talented art thief gets more than he bargained for when he sets his sights on a particularly valuable target.
Scandinavian fiction strikes again as
Jo Nesbo takes up
Steig Larsson’s baton for some crime thriller entertainment. And, for the most part,
Headhunters delivers with a moderately twisty tale and some nice performance, it just all feels a little basic.
It’s hard to understand what people were so excited about before
Headhunters arrived in cinemas but it’s still the kind of film many people will only discover on home video. My issues with it are all a matter of tone –
Headhunters is an ordinary thriller for so long that the sudden change in direction at the midway point comes as too much of a shock. And while the lurid activities of the latter half are diverting enough, they often verge on the nonsensical.
The cast help to sell the bizarre tone, lead the suitably creepy
Aksel Hennie. He’s ably supported by the ridiculously handsome
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who many will recognise as Jaime Lannister from
Game of Thrones. Neither character is exactly guilt free and there’s a sense that a different slant on the film could easily paint either as the hero.
A formulaic enough thriller which gained extra points for its source material and subtitles, it’s definitely a rental.
Extras: A featurette and a trailer.