Review: The Librarian on TNT
Dec 6, 2008 Uncategorized
I just watched a preview copy of TNT’s The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice, airing Sunday night at 8pm. This is the third installment of the Librarian series, and I wasn’t even aware of the first two (surprising, considering how much TV I watch). The title character, Flynn Carsen, is played by Noah Wylie (of ER fame), and his bosses at the fictional New York Metropolitan Library are played by Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain – two actors who are always fun to watch, and who play off of each other well here.
Noah Wylie is perfect as a ridiculously smart guy who really just wants to live a quiet life, find a girl to settle down with, and work at the library. But instead he finds himself traveling the world in search of relics to save, all of which get stored for safe keeping in the library. He’s utterly fed up with it all, so he goes off to New Orleans on vacation, but instead meets a girl with a past – a really long past – and gets mixed up in the world of vampires and ex-KGB agents searching for the Judas Chalice, a cup made from the 30 pieces of silver given to Judas Iscariot in exchange for betraying Jesus Christ.
Also showing up is Bruce Davison, who was so good in the X-Men movies. He plays a brilliant Romanian professor, kidknapped and forced to help in finding the chalice. Flynn’s love interest is played by Stana Katic, one of those actresses who has guest starred in just about every series imaginable. The cast as a whole is impressive, and Wylie is especially well-cast, with his baby face and natural charm. When he utters the line “It’s only fair to warn you that I am a librarian!” you just want to take him in, serve him some cookies and milk, and make sure he’s safe.
You won’t be lost if you start with this third movie in the series. With a bookish, reluctant hero and an adventure story based on ancient history, comparisons to the Indiana Jones series are inevitable, but really, that’s like comparing big-budget apples to small budget oranges. Not having a feature-film budget frees The Librarian from having to be too serious or make too much sense. Characters survive situations they shouldn’t at the hands of inept bad guys who never stick around long enough to make sure that they’re dead. The only “yucky part” (as my son calls romantic scenes) is just a lot of lusty kissing. The special effects don’t get too too scary (although kids who scare easily could get creeped out by the vampires). And as long as you don’t think too much about the plot, it’s a fun way to spend an evening.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
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Tags: Bob Newhart, Bruce Davison, Jane Curtain, Noah Wylie, Stana Katic, The Curse of the Judas Chalice, The Librarian, TNT
I’m covering my eyes & not reading this until next week, as I’ve got it set to record tonight — don’t want to be spoiled (but you totally didn’t give anything away in the first paragraph or so, though, so it’s easy to do — kudos to you for being cool & not leading with, “could you believe they all died in the end?” like the last review of something I stumbled onto did) but I liked the first two very much, even if he’s really a curator and not a librarian. I imagine “The Curator” didn’t sound as cool, but who would have thought “The Librarian” would be that much better? Anyhow, the first movie is far better than the second, but I think that’s because the leading lady in the first one is much more interesting. Both good stories, worth seeing.
Yeah, I hint, but I don’t really give anything away (except for plot points that come early in the movie). I’d watch just about anything with Noah Wylie in it. I mean my God, I own Swing Kids (although I bought that for Robert Sean Leonard).