Synopsis
Dane Jensen is a driven, Chicago-based headhunter, working at a cut-throat job placement firm. When his boss pits Dane against Lynn Vogel, Dane's equally driven but polar-opposite rival at the firm, in a battle for control over the company. When his young son is then given a harrowing diagnosis, Dane is suddenly pulled between achieving his professional dream and spending time with the family that needs him now more than ever.
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Cast
- Gerard ButlerDane Jensen
- Gretchen MolElise Jensen
- Maxwell JenkinsRyan Jensen
- Willem DafoeEd Blackridge
- Alison BrieLynn Vogel
- Alfred MolinaLou Wheeler
- Mimi KuzykBernadine Wheeler
- Anupam KherDr. Savraj Singh
- Dwain MurphyAntoine
- Dustin MilliganSumner Firestone
Recommendations
- 50
RogerEbert.com
Whenever the movie reaches for poetry it lands somewhere in a chain drugstore's greeting card aisle, trying to choose between one that shows an adorable child laughing in a Photoshopped field of sunlit daisies, one that tries for gallows humor but isn't really that funny, and a third with a quote about mortality and wisdom only seems thoughtful because it's written in cursive. - 50
Observer
It is still Gerard Butler who keeps it all afloat, negotiating rough waters with superior skill. - 38
Movie Nation
Screenwriter Bill Dubuque — forget that name — illustrates Dane’s sense of responsibility and victimhood by scribbling the clunkiest, clumsiest, most tin-eared “sex” scene in the history of the big screen. If that online screenwriting course offers a refund, pal, GRAB it. - 30
Variety
Sparing no maudlin contrivance in a quest to jerk tears that remain stubbornly dry, this hokum is slickly executed by producer Mark Williams in his feature directorial debut. But the result never rises above polished plastic, formulaic, and pedestrian. - 20
The Guardian
It’s run-of-the-mill, and crassly manipulative. - 10
The Hollywood Reporter
A loathsome redemption tale that rings false on every front except when depicting capitalistic assholery (and sometimes fails to convince us even then), Williams' directing debut The Headhunter's Calling (from a script by former corporate headhunter Bill Dubuque) not only expects us to root for its unlovable protagonist, but expects us to do so when that man is played by Gerard Butler. - 10
Los Angeles Times
Alternately crass and treacly, overbearing and under-finessed, the film, penned by headhunter-turned-screenwriter Bill Dubuque and directed by Mark Williams, is on life support from get-go.
