INTELLIGENT “HEADHUNTERS”

INTELLIGENT “HEADHUNTERS”

Now that those “Girl With The (……)” movies have raised the bar for Scandinavian thrillers to the level of Ingmar Bergman’s probing film studies,  it must be said that “Headhunters” from Norway isn’t quite that good.

“Headhunters” is still pretty good though. Now playing at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., “Headhunters” introduces Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) as a successful corporate executive who is also an art thief. We can all nod in agreement with that metaphor.

Brown specializes in matching up masterful CEO’s and needy corporations -- which is a lot like matching up the special qualities of a singer with just the right song. If the matchmaker does a good job, the corporation thrives and the singer has another million-selling hit record.

Brown is very good at what he does, everyone is agreed on that. He has a special gimmick as an art thief, too.

Always meeting a steady stream of wealthy people eager to make an impression, Brown is often shown someone’s art collection. Once a worthwhile painting is spotted, Brown makes a full-color reproduction of it on his copy machine.

He returns to the home and, in less than 10 minutes, steals the painting and replaces it with the photocopy. After that, says Brown, it can be weeks before the theft is noticed and reported.

There’s also something else. Brown feels like he’s shorter than other men. He is five-feet six-inches, but that isn’t enough. With a short man’s complex, he goes after tall patrician blonds and impresses them with his big bank account.

So we meet the statuesquely accommodating Diana, (Synnove Macody Lund). Always wanting to be helpful, Diana introduces Roger to the chiseled CEO of a multinational firm with a terrific executive gym, Clas Greve (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau).

Restless, Greve has just resigned from his current post, seeking a more challenging position. When Brown learns Greve has also inherited a Rubens from his grandmother (stolen from a museum by an opportunistic Nazi during World War II), Brown is joyously thinking double-payday.

Ahhh, then everything changes when Brown discovers Diane and Greve are having an affair.

Now we are all set up to enjoy the plot twists. Brown is a charming guy in sort of a Robin Hood way.  Greve has the dashing qualities of smashingly-good James Bond gone rogue.

So who are we to cheer for? Morten Tyldum as director keeps bouncing our loyalties back and forth like a juggler’s bowling pin.

One life-threatening situation follows another as we learn a little more about each man, continually tightening the suspense.

By American movie standards, “Headhunters” is too civilized. It needs a reckless edge, like a nicked razor blade that cuts a bloody jagged line.

However, those more dedicated foreign film aficionados will prefer the headier “Headhunters” style. For them, satisfaction is guaranteed.