Headhunters based on the novel by Jo Nesbo

Headhunters based on the novel by Jo Nesbo

                What a great thriller!

Headhunters can be mesmerizing, even when seen for the second time and after having read the book by the imaginative, creative Jo Nesbo, on which this elaborate, captivating drama and crime story is based.

Roger Brown is involved in a breaking and entering in the first scene of the film, during which he explains to the audience the rules of burglary…1. Make sure you know everything about the people you burglar, 2) never stay more than ten minutes, 3) do not leave DNA behind, 4) do not get a special reproduction for they will not see the difference anyway…not for some time…

We then learn that Roger Brown is a successful manager in a Headhunting company, but not rich enough, he feels, to be able to satisfy the needs of his extremely beautiful, taller wife that deserves so much.

He is only 168 centimeters tall and the need to compensate for that means that he steals paintings on the side and he has some partners in crime who help him get the money for the lavish house and luxuriant interior design, the luxury, top model Lexus that he drives and whatever expenses Diana, his wife might incur with the art gallery that represents her calling and another opportunity for her husband to find targets.

Roger Brown has to find a CEO for the company Pathfinder, which has some very coveted new technology and it could be the target of acquisition or merger requests, and Clas Greve appears to be, if not the ideal candidate, at least someone so impressive as to get the top job almost anywhere.

Roger meets him at the opening of the art exhibition, where Clas seems to be close to Diana, even too close for a husband that is insecure, but also good at identifying hidden thoughts and desires in job applicants and rivals.

The former has learned that the latter has a painting by Paul Rubens, evaluated at around one hundred million, perhaps krona, and he is in the process of stealing it, in fact he has been through the few rules aforementioned, only to stop as he sees some children playing outside, he becomes tender, considers he had been aggressive with his wife when she asked if he wants children, has reconsidered and calls her to announce the good news.

Only his wife’s mobile phone rings…from somewhere nearby and when the spouse tries to locate it, it is near the bed of Clas Greve, indicating clearly what happened, which is what Roger had feared and maybe he has created one of the self-fulfilling prophecies, with his violence, refusal to have children, the fear to be abandoned and the scare that, if children were born, he will be forgotten and abandoned.

The hero descends in Hades from this moment on, in an avalanche of gruesome news, horrible findings and murders, beginning with his dead partner, in the driver’s seat of his Lexus, as he descends in the garage.

Roger is terrified to find a sort of syringe, on the seat, which must have been the reason why Ove has died, he takes the corpse to a lake, puts stones in the pockets, throws the body into the lake, only to have the deceased jump to the surface, after which the protagonist dives in, takes the man out and they drive to his house.

Ove is evidently very ill, even if his partner explains that the syringe must have hit him in the knee and this is why he is still alive, but that is no comfort for the ailing, mad victim of a murder attempt who wants an ambulance, or else he will die.

As he is gun obsessed, he keeps pistols in the refrigerator, by the bed, everywhere, he has a prostitute with whom he plays by shooting at each other, and when he sees that he will not get medical assistance, because his colleague fears the consequences of the resulting inquiry, he shoots with a machine gun and then is killed.

Roger drives to the cabin in the woods, where he used to meet with his now dead collaborator, gets the key and looks around for a place to hide the precious Rubens, only to see the outhouse.

As he places the invaluable object of art in the roof of the outside toilet, he hears the barking of a dog, a fearsome breed used to hunt down enemies, and the loathsome nemesis, Clas Greve, who is obviously on his track and seconds away from finishing the botched job that the syringe had not accomplished.

This is one of the most horrendous moments, a scene that has a correspondent in Slumdog Millionaire, as the wanted man has no option, seeing as the dog is already pointing to his hideout and will get him out in the line of fire in moments, and he has to plunge in the hole with excrement and not just that, but to get under the surface, for the specialist in tracking that had been in the Special forces would look into all the spaces.

Roger has breathed through a cone from an empty toilet paper role, comes out from yet another nadir and runs through the forest, with scenes that may appear somewhat farfetched, considering the circumstances, but he emerges at the car, which does not start, so he has to drive a tractor, find keys that he pulls out from the dead administrator’s corpse and finally, he may have a way out.

One objection would be that the number of victims that die only in the first part of this feature is superior to what Norway would have totaled in a full year, but we need to move on to the fight with the deadly dog, who ends up impaled on the escape truck, which itself is smashed on the road side.

The fugitive finds himself into a hospital, guarded by the police who suspect him of having killed the administrator, and catch him after an initial escape attempt, place him in a car to transport him to Oslo, when, a stolen truck is hurrying towards the road block organized by the rather simple, thick men of the law.

Moreover, they end up in a ravine, where we stop this account and only refer to the magical use of hair gel, which plays such a paramount role in the big picture, an essential element together with love, loyalty, betrayal and other familiar ingredients.