Previewing The Librarian

It is nice the best idea to call your movie The Librarian because people may think it is the most boring thing ever or possibly something you find in the naughty section of your video section. This isn’t helped much when Noah Wyle (ER) is said librarian. But The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice works in a low budget, quirky Indiana Jones kind of way with Wyle playing the librarian / treasure hunter perfectly and actually believably.

The movie is the third in the series but if you are like me and stayed away based on the title alone; you can jump right in without missing anything. Except I did spent the first ten minutes trying to figure out if what I was seeing was some sort of dream sequence or was actually happening (it was happening). But once that is figured out, it turns out to be a nice set up to what’s to come.

And by the title you could tell trying to find the Judas Chalice is what is to come. This leads Wyle to New Orleans where he is guided around the city by Stana Katic who disappeared from Heroes as quickly as she appeared in accordance to the show only keeping around bad actors in unlikable roles and Katic’s wi-fi character was just too interesting to stay on the show and whose flimsiness in this role is even more entertaining. Her costumes don’t hurt either.

Joining Wyle in returning roles are Bob Newhart (Newhart) and Jane Curtin (Kate & Allie) as Wyle’s bosses and caretakers of the library. But both veterans take a back seat to Wyle to the point you wonder why put such big names in such small roles. Joining them for this go around is Bruce Davidson (Knight Rider; um, the crappy version; well, the latest crappy version) as a professor kidnapped by Wyle’s nemesis in the film in order to get to the Chalice before Wyle does.

The plot twists in the movie are somewhat predictable, but the ride to the ending is enjoyable enough to over look that and New Orleans is a character upon itself and a cab driver that picks up Wyle upon his arrival to the city steals all the scenes he is in. The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice premieres this Sunday at 8:00 on TNT. It also reairs on Tuesday at 7:00.