I don't see very often movies produced in the the Scandinavian region, but my experiences up to the moment make me believe that I'm more close to heart to what comes out from Sweden, than from Norway. I honestly believe that's a very big difference in style between the Norwegian cinema and the Swedish one. But maybe it's just my talent to pick the titles. Maybe = probably certain. According to what I've seen during the last years, it seems that in that area Santa is a vile demon from below the ground ("Rare Exports" - I skipped this from blogging), the rural areas are haunted by trolls ("Trollhunter" - discussed not long ago) and the competition between the GPS technology producers is so fierce that the consequences come as pitbull bites ("Hodejegerne" - the topic here). But as I was saying the problem is the style, not the subject. I consider myself enough open minded not to refuse any story, no matter how weird it might sound (on the opposite - it's a story - weirdness makes it more original). The problem is how the story is handled. Well .. I'm starting with the "philosophy", and anyway what we have here in summary deserves watching, so let's better get to the subject.
The main character in this story is a top employee in a human resources firm. A "headhunter" to be more specific - the title (at plural) in English, that I forgot to mention. The guy is living a life way higher than what his monthly payment allows, having huge rates to pay for his luxurious apartment, a tall blond as a wife who he's spoiling buying jewelry, a separate affair with a brunette (whom he dumps quite fast, but she has her place int he movie), a Lexus in his garage, and .. a ton of stress for not losing everything he has .. plus some complexes to supplement that, starting from his 1.68 meters height of which he's continuously complaining in the movie's narrative monologues. The secret of maintaining the respective lifestyle is his second job = paintings thief in his spare time. And since his main job requires finding out during the interviews lots of stuff about the future employees, like if they have among their hobbies also the plastic art collecting or if they're animal lovers (ergo: do they have a dog at home), the two activities of our guy are completing each other wonderfully. Until he takes the unfortunate decision to visit (uninvited, of course) also the apartment of a potential future employee on a leading position in a corporation specialized on GPS tech, which potential future employee seems to have a very tensed past in the special forces before deciding for a business career .. But since the picture is a Rubens, our guy decides that it worths the risk .. More, in the movie ;) ...
It is obvious that the ending is a surprising one. Well, if it wouldn't be obvious we would probably have at most an acceptable action flick. Like this, the things are a bit more complicated. Firstly, the movie is done in such a way that it doesn't allow much empathy (initially) with the main character (maybe there are exceptions for this .. but the general idea is like that - the guy is a thief, arrogant, frustrated, cynical, infidel, cold, and all the rest, so the script doesn't really want the viewer to vibrate to the problems that guy gets into). The issue comes from the fact that you don't have any other "positive" character to say it so. Lastly the things start to change .. a bit .. without getting into much detail .. The ending saves a lot. Although, the unexpected part is a bit far fetched, and there are also other portions throughout the script which for me are a bit .. "unreal" (I don't know, maybe in Norway's reference system it would be more close to common sense). On the other hand I cannot get over without mentioning some fine irony, starting from the title and the main job of the main character vs. the situations he gets into, up to the 1.68m height that prove to be vital in some moments. Well, overall I was much more impressed than of what I've seen made in Norway until now, but for this movie genre I still have missed that feeling of a subsconscious "be supportive" towards "the good guy".
Rating (it's complicated):
3 out of 5 - overall movie making & the script
4 out of 5 - story & acting
5 out of 5 - the scene missing in the trailer ;) after the truck hit - very powerful
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