The press called him Carlos the Jackal, but that sobriquet isn't used in Olivier Assayas' 5½-hr. French-TV miniseries, which played in U.S. theaters and on pay-per-view. The famous radical, insurgent, terrorist call him what you will possessed a jackal's predatory wiles, planning and executing the 1975 kidnapping of OPEC ministers in Vienna, the bombing of a Paris restaurant, the killing of the French ambassador to Lebanon and his pregnant wife, and the murder of two Paris policemen. Rather than casting explicit judgment on Carlos, Assayas is content to display him, which leaves the challenge of inhabiting the monster to Edgar Ramírez, a Venezuelan actor who appeared in 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum. His acute embodiment captures Carlos with a quick intelligence and a thrilling physicality, whether pausing before a full-length mirror to admire his naked radiance or charming some of his many kidnapping victims. The preening, charismatic Carlos thought of himself as the ultimate movie star of the violent left. If there's any justice, the role will vault Ramírez to his own white-hot celebrity.
The Top 10 Everything of 2010
- Top 10 Albums
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- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Biz Deals
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Campaign Ads
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Facebook Trends
- Top 10 Fashion Statements
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Stories
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
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- Top 10 Pictures
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Reality-TV Moments
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Talented Web Videos
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 Travel Moments
- Top 10 TV Commercials
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Twitter Moments
- Top 10 World News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 U.S. News Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months