Review of Carlos (2010) by Heywood J — 01 Sep 2011

CARLOS Martinez is a ruthless Venezuelan terrorist who kills a police witness and the cops in a room full of people. He enjoys his nude body in a full-length mirror and has no reluctance in sleeping with a comrade's girlfriend. He's a very captivating character based on real events. The version I saw was a shorter version of the 5 hour epic that I read about.

Too bad because the movie feels like there's chunks missing. I wish the movie had explored the psychological motivations of the man more. He was not a follower by any stretch of the imagination but a highly intelligent man. The sequence of the kidnapping of the OPEC ministers is suspenseful but, once the siege is finished, the movie spirals into confusion with lots of obscure talk and complicaed politics not easily understood. The concluding scenes are appropriate for a man who killed who so many. It's also not clear whether it's his health that caught up with him, or his arrogance, or that he was targeted by so many because he became a liability.

Edgar Martinez is perfect in the role but, unfortunately, he physically looks like Javier Bardem so I kept comparing him to this fine Spanish actor.