November 23, 2012 -- What starts off as a caper film turns into an all out fight for survival as an art thief stumbles into a deadly corporate power play. This film is filled with suspense, violence, duplicity and emotion. The plot has a number of interesting twists. It is a very gritty thriller.

Roger Brown (played by Aksel Hennie) seems to have the good life, but the outward appearance of it, the fancy house and car, the nice clothes, the tall, blonde trophy wife, Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund) and a successful business as a corporate headhunter are really just a thin veneer covering up the fact that Brown is a short, insecure art thief who is living beyond his means. He is having trouble paying his bills and he needs a big score. He thinks he's found it when he hears that a client has a very rare, valuable Reubens painting. If he can steal the painting, his money troubles will be over.

Brown successfully steals the painting, with the help of his partner, an inside man in the police department, Ove (Eivind Sander) but in the process finds out his wife is having an affair with his client, the owner of the painting, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Angry, Brown vows to ruin Brown's chances of getting the job he wants as C.E.O. of Pathfinder, a company that makes surveillance devices. He tells his wife his plans to scuttle Greve's career, knowing she will tell Greve. As soon as he does this, his life turns into a nightmare.

Greve, a former military commando, targets Brown for death. Time and again, Brown barely escapes with his life as Greve and others try to poison him, stab him and shoot him. Brown has no idea why he has become a human target. He tries to hide, but Greve keeps tracking him down, using his expertise in high-tech tracking equipment. It appears that Brown is overmatched and his days are numbered, but he is a survivor, both crafty and lucky. Eventually, he finds out what is going on, why he has been targeted, and comes up with a plan to deal with Greve.

Along the way, dead bodies start to pile up. The police are just as mystified as Brown is. They can't figure out what is going on. At one point, Brown is arrested, but the police are entirely confused about who Brown really is. His capture leads to another harrowing, near-death experience for Brown. This is a very compelling story that keeps you guessing. It rates a B.

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Copyright © 2012 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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