The Librarian Curse of the Judas Chalice

• Title:  The Librarian Curse of the Judas Chalice
• Director:  Jonathan Frakes
• Date:  2008
• Studio:  TNT (TV movie)
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
• Cast:  Noah Wyle, Bob Newhart, Jane Curtin, Stana Katic
• Format:  Color, Widescreen (HD)
• DVD Format:  NTSC, R1

"Maybe some women are OK with the wild and unpredictable lifestyle of dating a librarian, but I'm not."  -- Katie, when she dumps Flynn

"Charlene, How big is the library?"  - Flynn

"As big as we need it to be." - Charlene

"You cannot escape your destiny, Flynn." - Simone

"I was trying to take a little vacation from it but it didn't seem to work out." - Flynn

"No, if you fight your destiny you will be miserable.  You must embrace it and revel in every moment." - Simone

The third film starts with Flynn, wearing a black tuxedo, and attending a high priced auction.  But rather than having the sophistication of James Bond, this is still our Flynn - the free champagne causes him to sneeze, though he also points out it's not technically champagne but an Italian sparkling wine.  During the auction, not only does Charlene call to remind him of The Library's budget, but his girlfriend, Katie calls to break up with him. Between the two conversations on his cell phone, and the auction itself, Flynn is distracted and accidentally raises the bid much too high several times.  Finally, it total frustration, he bids L1 million Pounds Sterling.  He wins the vase, and back at The Library, Charlene nearly faints.   After the auction, Flynn picks up his vase, intentionally drops it, and shatters it into a million pieces, he finds and takes a small cloth bag, and hides it in his jacket pocket.  The other bidder arrives, and when he sees what's happened, tries to take the item from Flynn. It turns out it's the Philosopher's Stone which can turn anything it touches into gold. Flynn and his rival fight, with anything at hand, including a throw pillow that Flynn's quickly turned to gold.  The fight merges into a stolen sword, sword-fight.  Flynn, after some difficulty, escapes with the Stone.

Flynn goes to the hotel bar to meet his girlfriend, but she's left.  He returns to the Library, where Charlene and Judson show him the Large Collection Annex, which, among other things, includes Noah's Ark.  However, Flynn, though impressed, is fed-up.  He mentions his relationships that haven't worked out:  Nicole, Emily, now Katie.  And how he can't even tell his mother the importance of his work.  In short, he has a meltdown and threatens to quit.  Judson and Charlene ask him to take a vacation instead.

So Flynn does, but he merely stays in his apartment, eating take-out.  Charlene drops by one night at drops off a bunch of travel brochures.  Flynn is polite to her, but doesn't take her suggestion seriously.  That night he has a dream of a Siren calling him, then sees a statue of a rearing horse.  When he wakes, he looks at the brochures again and finds one with the same rearing horse.  He decides to head to New Orleans on vacation.

In New Orleans, Flynn seems determined to have a very boring vacation, at first.  But one night he wanders into a bar, and sees the woman from his dream singing on stage.  During her break, he sits at her table and tries to buy her a drink.  This seems to be going terribly, when some heavies show up and come after the girl.  She and Flynn escape.

Flynn and the girl, Simone, spend the night together.  The next day, she's gone.  Flynn runs into Judson in a barbershop, and learns a bit about the plot.  It seems that the Judas Chalice, an artifact made by melting the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot to betray Christ, is in play.  The Chalice has the power to re-animate dead vampires.  Meanwhile, the coffin of Dracule - aka, Vlad the Impaler, has disappeared.

Flynn and Simone, attempt to follow the clues to solve this new riddle.  Simone, guards a key that leads to the hiding place of the chalice.  Through a series of adventures they solve the puzzles.  However, Simone is a vampire - this isn't too bad, she keeps blood in her fridge and has no desire to snack on Flynn.  Flynn also runs into a famous professor, whom he thinks is killed by the vampires chasing him.

The conclusion, is much more bittersweet than the previous Librarian films.  However, Flynn has once again, learned how important it is that he remain The Librarian.  He's also learned that The Library is part of a larger struggle of Good vs. Evil.  And he's picked up a little background on Judson.  Flynn, once at the verge of quitting, returns to The Library.

The third and final Librarian film, The Librarian Curse of the Judas Chalice, is a little weak in spots.  The entire film, for the most part, is set in New Orleans, though it makes use of the location.  I liked Flynn's pal, the cabbie - who continuously shows-up to help Flynn and get him whatever he needs - a cemetery tour, a rental boat, etc.  Simone, a 300-year old vampire with a desire to take revenge on the one who made her, is a new twist on Flynn's female companion du jour.  Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin round out the cast to make the film that much more fun.  Still, I missed the more global-trotting aspects of the previous films.  Though having the humor back was a bonus.  Overall, the film was enjoyable and fun.  Later this year, in December 2014, TNT will bring The Librarians to the small screen, starring Wyle, Newhart, Curtin, John Larroquette, and Christian Kane (of TNT's Leverage). I'm actually looking forward to seeing it.

Recommendation:  See It - this film is especially appropriate for children

Rating:  3.8

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