ON DVD > WATCHING AT HOME.

Byline: ROB LOWMAN

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

television> "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"

There may be something to be said for not looking your best -- if you're Helen Mirren, that is.

The actress -- so regal in portraying queens in her Emmy-winning ("Elizabeth I") and Oscar-winning ("The Queen") performances -- appears pretty trashed as "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" opens.

In her seventh and last outing as Inspector Jane Tennison of Scotland Yard, Mirren brilliantly captures a woman on the brink. (Once again, Mirren is nominated for an Emmy.)

With just weeks to go before her retirement, Tennison awakes one morning with no memory of the night before. It takes little of her detecting skills for her to conclude she probably had sex, but with whom she'll never know. Drink is the culprit.

One other important thing she has a blank on is a report of a teen girl gone missing. The case plunges her into a world of indifferent and cynical youth and tawdry goings-on. Meanwhile, her father (Frank Finlay) is dying, and while he is resigned to his death, she tries to hold onto him -- partly from guilt and partly because after so many years of having to be tough in a man's world, he is the link to the hopeful youth she was before building her armor.

This emotional fissure opens her up to the charms of Penny (Laura Greenwood), a friend of the missing 14-year-old. But Tennison's attachment to the bottle clouds her judgment, interfering with her work.

What has made Mirren such an enduring and fascinating actress is that she never gives too much away in her performances. Tennison has proved a perfect role -- a complicated woman who came of age when women were stepping out of men's shadows and paying the price.

"Prime Suspect: The Final Act" is an intriguing dark mystery that will have most viewers guessing who the murderer is until the end, but Mirren's vivid portrait of the thorny Tennison -- who is so desperate to solve the case and go out with her head held high -- makes the whodunit aspect of the miniseries almost secondary.

movie>

"Away From Her"

Another inestimable actress is Julie Christie. More than 40 years removed from her stunning Oscar-winning role in the 1965 "Darling," Christie offers a graceful performance as Fiona, a Canadian housewife manifesting the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, in actress Sarah Polley's feature-directing debut, "Away From Her."

At first, the memory lapses by Fiona, who lives with husband Grant (an impressive performance by Gordon Pinsent), are almost amusing, but soon enough the condition darkens their bucolic life together. Out of consideration for her husband, she decides to go to an assisted-living facility called Meadowlake.

Based on "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," by Alice Munro, "Away From Her" is full of subtleties and insights, heralding Polley as a filmmaker to watch.

cable>"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"

Along the way in the HBO movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," Fred Thompson -- yes, now presidential candidate Fred Thompson -- solemnly declares that "setting the Indian on the course to civilization best ensures his survival."

Well, we know how well that went, but we'll give Thompson this -- he's convincing as the cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking President Ulysses S. Grant.

Based on the book by Dee Alexander Brown, "Bury My Heart" is a solid, solemn affair. And this being Hollywood, there have been changes from the book, which was originally subtitled "An Indian History of the American West."

Most notable is the addition of real-life character Charles Eastman (Adam Beech). Eastman was part Sioux and came from a long line of Santee chiefs but had been sent away by his father to boarding school. There, he became sort of a poster boy for assimilation of 19th-century American Indians. In the film, however, he gets to fight at the Battle of Little Bighorn, although at the time he was away in grade school in Nebraska.

Historical liberties aside, "Bury My Heart" -- like the book -- never lets you forget which side the filmmakers are coming down on, although there are minor attempts to show you the Indian tribes weren't perfect -- they, too, were adept at massacring their own.

Dramatically, the film can be tough sledding at times. But there are strong, smart, even honest moments, too, which make "Bury My Heart" worth sitting through. The atrocities committed in the name of civilizing the Indians shouldn't be forgotten.

And if you see some parallels to our (mis)adventures in Iraq -- trying to subdue a hostile population -- that's your call.

The real question left is, will the other Republican candidates demand that HBO give them parts as wrong-headed presidents under the guidelines of equal air time?

>television

There are -- as is usual just before the fall TV season begins -- a number of box sets for returning shows. "Grey's Anatomy -- The Complete Third Season," "Bones -- The Complete Second Season," "Supernatural -- The Complete Second Season," "Two and a Half Men -- The Complete First Season" and "Las Vegas: Season Four" all have their merit and fans (I like "Bones"), but if you have kids, I recommend getting the third season of "Fraggle Rock," the inventive, whimsical HBO series of the '80s.

out Tuesday>

NEW FILMS

"Away From Her" ($27.98)

"Griffin & Phoenix" ($22.98)

TELEVISION

"Prime Suspect 7 -- The Final Act" ($29.99)

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" ($26.98)

"Masada -- The Complete Epic Mini-Series" ($29.98)

"Lilies" ($49.99)

"Grey's Anatomy -- The Complete Third Season" ($59.99)

"Charmed -- The Final Season (Season 8)" ($49.99)

"Bones -- Second Season" ($59.98) "Supernatural -- The Complete Second Season" ($59.98)

"Avatar the Last Airbender -- The Complete Book 2" ($64.99)

"Two and a Half Men -- The Complete First Season" ($44.98)

"Las Vegas: Season Four" ($59.98)

"The Addams Family -- Volume 3" ($29.98)

"Tales From the Crypt/ Vault of Horror Double Feature" ($14.98)

"I Dream of Jeannie -- The Complete Fourth Season" ($39.95)

"McHale's Navy: Season Two" ($44.99)

"Fraggle Rock -- Complete Third Season" ($49.98)

"Carolina Moon" ($24.96)

"Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3" ($26.98)

"Snow Cake" ($19.95)

"The Starter Wife" ($29.98)

"The Noel Coward Collection" ($79.98)

OLDER FILMS

"The Graduate -- 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition" ($24.98)

"Face/Off -- Two Disc Special Collector's Edition" ($19.99)

"The Fly Collection" ("The Fly (1958")/ "Return of the Fly" (1959))/ "The Curse of the Fly" (1965) ($39.98) "Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection" ("The Abominable Dr. Phibes"/ "Tales of Terror"/ "Theater of Blood"/ "Madhouse"/ "Witchfinder General"/ "Dr. Phibes Rises Again"/ "Twice Told Tales") ($39.98)

"From Beyond -- Unrated Director's Cut" ($19.98) (1986)

"The Lost World -- Special Edition" (1960 & 1925 editions) ($19.98) "The Burning" ($14.98)

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Photo:

Helen Mirren concludes her run as Inspector Tennison.