The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

*** - After a fairly lengthy string of political drama, psychological thriller, sci-fi and horror flicks I decided I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, so I popped the made-for-TV, family friendly, action/adventure trilogy of films known as “The Librarian Series” to the top of my Netflix queue. This first in the series stars one the guys from “ER” as a nerdy perpetual student with 22 college degrees who turns into a sort of Indiana Jones type figure after being told to go out and find a job-type job. This isn’t a film that makes any grand statements or has any broad artistic ambitions, but it is decent enough as a sort of light entertainment. There is a fairly large comedic element that works probably a little more than it doesn’t work thanks to the presence of the always reliable Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin. Everything else about the film is pretty mediocre, from the special effects to the by-the-numbers adventure formula to the script. I’ve certainly spent an hour and forty six minutes doing worse things than watching this movie.