MICHAEL DWYERand DONALD CLARKEreview this week's DVD releases

DEXTER

Directed by Michael Cuesta, Tony Goldwyn, Keith Gordon and others. Starring Michael C Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, Erik King, James Remar 18 cert★★★★

The most complex TV anti-hero since Tony Soprano, Dexter Morgan is a dedicated forensic pathologist with the Miami police department. He is loving and caring towards an abused woman, with whom he gets emotionally involved, and her two young children. And he moonlights as a serial killer who dispenses his form of vigilante justice with relish and cool, clinical precision as he targets offenders who, in his view, are getting away with murder.

Dexter is, in his own words, "a monster", but he cannot control his homicidal tendencies, which are traced in flashbacks to his troubled childhood. And the series defies us not to root for him when he undertakes his murderous missions or when he finds himself imperilled and his secret life is threatened with exposure. The consequences are blood- splattered but consistently raise moral issues and make for riveting drama powered by the terrific central performance from Michael C Hall.

The first two seasons of Dexterare now on 12-episode DVDs and so addictive that I, for one, could not resist watching each season in its entirety over the course of a single weekend. MD

OF TIME AND THE CITY

Directed by Terence Davies. Documentary. PG cert★★★★★

Davies doubles as narrator for his cherishable documentary, a deeply personal essay on Liverpool, where he grew up. He appears to have pondered every word in his elegant script, which he delivers with passion and dry wit as he follows himself and his city from post-war poverty to the present day. MD

THE SILENCE OF LORNA/LE SILENCE DE LORNA
Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Starring Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier. 18 cert★★★★

In the new socially concerned moral drama from the Dardenne brothers, a young Albanian (Dobroshi) marries a drug addict (Renier) to obtain permanent residence in Belgium. Tough and uncompromising as the film is, it yields affecting moments of unexpected tenderness. MD

YES MAN
Directed by Peyton Reed. Starring Jim Carrey, Terrence Stamp, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby, Danny Masterson. 15A cert★★★

What would you say to a comedy in which Jim Carrey has to say "yes" to every question he is asked? Oh, very droll. But Yes Manturns out to be surprisingly tolerable. The star is in comparatively restrained form and it makes good use of its fine cast. DC

MAX PAYNE
Directed by John Moore. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Ludacris. 15A cert★

Detective Wahlberg seeks revenge in the latest ropey adaptation of a video game. Moore has some gift for organising violence, but, if he has any talent for motivating actors, it fails to show in this festival of deadened muttering and gabbled exposition. The DVD is laden with dull docs on the graphics etc. DC

TRANSPORTER 3
Directed by Olivier Megaton. Starring Jason Statham, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova, Robert Knepper. 15A cert★★★

The third film in the franchise will not disappoint fans of its gloriously idiotic predecessors. This time, Statham is forced to wear a bracelet that will explode if he moves more than 25ft from his apparently indestructible motorcar. You cannot imagine the problems this causes. DC

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S THOMPSON
Directed by Alex Gibney.15A cert ★★★★

The director of Taxi to the Dark Side takes on the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the result is predictably entertaining. Featuring amusing interviews with the likes of Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Carter, the film details both the late journalist's excesses and his many impressive achievements. DC