I can’t remember the last time a movie surprised me as much as Headhunters: not just its story twists and turns, which are considerable, but its continual stripping of character veneer and overall audaciousness left me breathless. I haven’t read any of the growingly-popular novels by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo (whose reputation has grown in the past few years, possibly in the wake of Sweden’s Stieg Larsson), but if this is indicative of his storytelling skills, I’m impressed.
The film captures our attention right away by introducing us to its highly unlikely “hero,” a smug, high-level corporate headhunter who plays to win. He’s even won himself a beautiful wife, although he admits that the expensive, ultramodern house in which they live is more her taste than his. Then he explains, in voice-over narration, that he has a second source of income to support his expensive lifestyle: he is a successful art thief. When his wife opens a stylish new gallery and befriends a newcomer who happens to own a valuable Rubens painting, he simply can’t resist going after it, with the help of a partner who works for a home-security firm. Headhunters is a sleeper that ought to generate strong word-of-mouth. A Hollywood studio is already preparing a remake, but I doubt if an American filmmaker will pull off the story with the same gutsiness that marks this striking Norwegian import.
There are few films that hit home to the degree Silver Linings Playbook does. The filmmakers and cast seem to have an excellent working knowledge of mental health, specifically Bipolar Disorder (which in itself is a complex task). But never once is the illness put before the person and that is what makes Silver Linings quite a remarkable film. The story is about two characters with Bipolar Disorder searching for stability from their illness. Subtly, it plays on the fact that we all have issues in our lives by giving us quirky seemingly normal characters peppered throughout the film. Both Cooper and Lawrence hit it out of the park (and if Daniel Day Lewis wasn’t such an amazing actor, the Oscar would surely have gone to Bradley Cooper). De Niro and Weaver playing Cooper’s father and mother in the film complete amazing roles. However it is through the mother’s eyes, we view the pain and concern for her family as a result of her son’s illness plus her husband’s compulsive habits.