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Directed by E. Elias Merhige
Written by Zak Penn

Starring
Aaron Eckhart
Ben Kingsley
Carrie-Anne Moss

A Dallas FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) violates a serial killer Raymond Starkey's (Keith Campbell) civil rights during an arrest; Starkey gets released while Mackelway is transferred to Albuquerque. In New Mexico, Mackelway takes the assignment of the murder of Harold Speck (Kevin Chamberlin). This leads to the first of three killings.

Mackelway dives headfirst into the case, not wanting to make the same mistakes he made in the past. His partner Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss) does her best to help him crack the case. All clues seem to point to the mysterious Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley). O'Ryan undoubtedly is connected to the murders and it seems that he may be linked to Mackelway’s past.

What is so interesting is the way Zak Penn’s script was written to stack the deck towards to the person who is responsible for the killings and then have it twist away from that obvious answer. That takes some skill and is handled marvelously by E. Elias Merhige’s direction.

Aaron Eckhart does a good job at being haunted by his past and passionate about solving this seemingly unsolvable killer. Ben Kingsley always seems to bring a new wrinkle to characters that would be ordinary in other hands. Carrie-Anne Moss shows a much more vulnerable side and brings needed warmth to this movie.

Audio Commentary is provided by director E. Elias Merhige. Merhige talks about how he told the story and why he choose the look of the film.

There is a four-part featurette titled What We See When We Close Our Eyes. Running about 30 minutes long, it features interviews with scientists, former CIA employees, military personnel and people who use a technique used in the film called remote viewing. Remote viewing is considered a controlled shifting of awareness that is performed in the normal waking state of consciousness, and it does not typically involve an out-of-body experience. Director Merhige is given the chance to remote view a secret location picked at random and to describe and draw what he sees, just like Ben Kingsley’s character does in the movie.

There is an alternate ending with optional commentary by Merhige.

The film’s trailer and previews are also on the DVD.

There have been quite a few serial killer movies made since SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and SEVEN. This one feels a little bit different and is executed with satisfying result.

www.paramount.com/homeentertainment/