Headhunters – Analysis

“Headhunters” is an action thriller, produced in 2011 and it is based on a novel from 2008 of the same title. However, there are also a number of comedy conventions within it. The film is based on the events, which took place to Roger Brown, Norway's most successful headhunter, who is the protagonist. In the film he supports his lavish lifestyle by stealing paintings from his clients. His partner Ove works at a surveillance company and deactivates security at the victims' homes and Roger's wife, Diana, an art gallery owner, introduces him to Clas Greve, an executive who wants to work for Pathfinder, a GPS technologies company, for which Roger is recruiting and is later found to be Rogers main enemy as well as the antagonist of the movie.

The key themes of the film are insecurity and greed. Insecurity is the main as well as the most important theme as it is what the whole story is about as well as the cause for why all of the events took place. The film follows a circular structure and this is how this theme is presented. In the opening dialogue Roger says "I am Roger Brown, I am 1.68 meters tall" and at the end of the film we are once again presented with Roger, this time saying "I am Roger Brown, I am 1.68 meters tall and you know what? That is more than enough". The idea of the repetition of the height both at the beginning and end of the film connotes that it is very significant and it is what the audience should keep in mind. Moreover, the idea that it is used at the end with the addition of “that’s good enough for me” shows that the main character was able to overcome his problems as he gain confidence within himself.

In the film, we also come across three female characters. These characters are being presented in a sexualised way. This is because when we first meet the characters each of them is presented to us while taking part in a sexual act. This therefore, makes the audience think that this is what women are like in this film and that this is what they should be related to. In addition, women are also shown as unloyal. This is because all of the three female characters were involved in some kind of affair. Moreover, the fact that this representation is given, also means that the audience are much less likely to build a relationship with the characters and so feel empathy towards them.

Overall, I found "Headhunters" as a very good and engaging movie to watch. It is certainly a very successful thriller. This is as it followed the basic idea of how a thriller should look like, however, it also involved its own twists and additions to the genre making it original and interesting to watch. Additionally, throughout the movie, the audiences are also constantly kept on the edge as tension is built and so everyone is anticipating more in order to be able to find out what is going to happen next.