Headhunters (2011)

I had not heard of this until Dad rented it, and he couldn't remember where he heard of it. Neither of us knew before the opening credits that it was foreign—Norwegian, to be exact. The only other film from Norway I recall seeing is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and it figures that this one makes several shout-outs to the series. Yet Headhunters set a national record for widespread distribution.

There's a bit of wordplay in the directly translated title. The protagonist, Roger Brown (yes, he's Norwegian), is a corporate recruiter who does an esteemed job, but if his clients knew what he was up to, they wouldn't appreciate him: His interview questions make it easy for him to sneak into their homes and replace their valuable paintings with forgeries, with help from a corrupt employee of a security company, Ove, who takes a share of the sales. Their troubles begin in earnest after stealing from Clas Greve, executive, former soldier, and different kind of headhunter....

From the Netflix description, I thought the story would be something like Don't Breathe, in which the thieving lead characters almost deserve what the antagonist tries to do to them. But Clas is not defending himself against a burglar still in the house. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that his goal is not to recover the stolen art, or he wouldn't try to kill Roger and Ove—among others—before learning where it was hidden. When Roger isn't too busy fleeing, he has to wonder what his pursuer's motivation is. We don't find out until the third act.

Roger himself is a bit of a jerk, but at least we can easily get where he's coming from, thanks in part to first-person narration. He's not especially avaricious; he spends lavishly only to impress his wife, Diana, claiming that his money comes entirely from his legal job and inheritance. Possibly an even worse thing he does for fear of losing her is not say directly that he won't give her a child. His fear has not stopped him from having a mistress, tho he does break up with her.

By and by, Roger gains our sympathy. He does go through a lot, including multiple life-threatening injuries and reasonable suspicion that Diana has not only cheated with Clas but deliberately aided him in the manhunt. My dad started to wonder why Roger even struggled to live anymore, given his unpromising future. Regardless, I could admire his determination.

More than that, I admire Roger's sharp thinking. It pays to stay alert so you understand what he's doing and where he gets his ideas, particularly as he ties up loose ends. Dad and I had to review what we knew as we went along.

IMDb points out significant mistakes, but I paid them no mind as they don't affect the story itself. Headhunters is a well-devised thriller with a satisfying ending. Just prepare for some grit.