Headhunters ★★★★

ANYONE who reads crime fiction will be familiar with the work of Norway’s Jo Nesbø.

The prolific author has a way of creating anti-heroes almost as warped as the antagonists they are pursuing and twisting narratives that match the darkness of his characters.

There have been film adaptations of his works, only two of which I have seen.

The Snowman from 2017 is a terribly flawed effort, but 2011’s Headhunters is hugely entertaining.

Aksel Hennie is terrific as the outwardly successful and arrogantly confident corporate recruiter Roger Brown.

He has the beautiful model-like wife, great job, flash car and house; but in reality he leads a secret life as an art thief in order to fund the lavish lifestyle.

Once Roger identifies a mark, his partner in crime, Ove (Eivind Sander) who works at a security company, deactivates the home alarms allowing Roger to swap a real painting with a fake so good that it may never be detected.

Roger’s modus operandi is significantly enhanced by his wife Diana being an art gallery owner. At a function Diana introduces Roger to Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a suave former technology company executive.

Clas is interested in a new position that Roger is seeking to fill while Roger is interested in the rare Rubens painting in Clas’ possession.

Fate seems to have delivered Roger opportunity for a double financial windfall, but execution of the robbery goes far from according to the usual plan.

A great script perfectly combines violent drama and black comedy with strong performances throughout.

Headhunters is one of the highest-grossing Norwegian films and a Hollywood remake has been talked about for several years now.