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Booking it Up...

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 12/10/2004 9:36:10 AM

I recently sat and watched TNT’s The Librarian:  The Quest for the Spear.  This is a two hour TV movie, and obviously was a pilot for a future series.  It starred Noah Wyle, Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart.  While it was hokey in the beginning, I found the entire movie to be quite entertaining.  Conservativity is normally not a forum for reviews of entertainment shows.  However, I make an exception this time.

The premise is about a superhero called "The Librarian."  The position of The Librarian is filled from time to time with a special person, who exhibits the knowledge and wisdom necessary to be the librarian.  Wyle’s character, Flynn Carsen,  is a "perpetual student" with 23 degrees; someone afraid to go into the world.  He has a coddling matchmaker mother, played interestingly well by Olympia Dukakis.  When the school finally says "Enough!" with Flynn’s know-more-than-the-students studies, he applies to be a librarian, but in reality he was being interviewed to be The Librarian.  Flynn passes muster with a Sherlock-Holmes like performance in front of Jane Curtin, who is stellar as the crumedgeon gatekeeper between the world of the normal library and The Library.

Bob Newhart is the boss of The Library.  Without trying to spoil too much, he is a former Librarian.  He introduces our new hero to his first adventure:  Retrieve the spear that was used to stab Christ on the Cross -- whoever finds this spear has the power of invincibility.  It is best kept in The Library, a vast underground secured facility where the Lost Ark, the goose that lays golden eggs, and other legends-that-are-real are kept.

"And of course, there is no way anyone can miss a movie where Bob Newhart sports a Marine Tattoo on his chest and engages in martial arts fighting!"

I like this movie because it shows the rewards of both study and hard work.  I like it because Flynn is genuinely nice and naive, while still an able hero.  I like his sidekick/enforcer, Nicole NoOne (There is a "trust NoOne" line, of course), played with aplomb by Sonya Walger.  And of course, there is no way anyone can miss a movie where Bob Newhart sports a Marine Tattoo on his chest and engages in martial arts fighting!

This is a move that the family can watch with no worries at all.  The pilot had a lot of setup work to do, but it got it done, so the next movie, or hopefully the weekly series, will be less hokey in the setup.  Here’s hoping for a series.  This movie, The Librarian: Quest for the Spear is airing on TNT.