Movie Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

Let me be right up front and say that I have never seen the first film. I never had the interest when it was in theaters back in 2005, and can you blame me? I am clearly not in the target audience. So, I guess you are wondering why I chose to subject myself to the sequel, especially without the reference point of the first film? Frankly, I don't have an answer, at least not a good one. The fact remains that I chose to put myself in that theater, I chose to sit through a movie that did not have me in mind, and I chose to watch a movie that I was relatively sure I wouldn't care for. I wanted to like it, but the so-called "chick flicks" have done little to win me over of late, with Mamma Mia! and Sex and the City failing to ignite much inside me, why should this be any different?

Well, not for nothing, the cast contains many that I have liked in other films and series, so it has that going for it. There is Amber Tamblyn who I liked on Joan of Arcadia, Alexis Bledel for Sin City (never watched much Gilmore Girls), and America Ferrera who I've like in supporting files in films like La misma luna. As for Blake Lively, I cannot recall seeing her before, I've seen Accepted but cannot place her in it. Beyond the main four, the supporting cast has a number of notables, including Rachel Nichols (P2, Alias), Kyle McLachlan, Blythe Danner, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. The cast is certainly nothing to scoff at, the question was whether or not they would all come together and make a movie worth watching.

Here comes the surprise, I liked it. No, I don't think it was perfect, nor great, nor even really good. What it was is solid. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 benefits from a cast that gels really well, sort of like, well, a well-worn pair of pants. When they are on-screen together they seem to be old friends, they may be occasional at odds with each other, but you can still sense an unbreakable friendship between them. This is also one of the problems with the film, the basis of the film, as indicated by the title, requires the foursome to spend a good deal of time away from each other, otherwise the pants would not have to travel, would they?

This is an issue because each of the four girls each have their own story, and since they are essentially equal in terms of billing, the story must be carved up in four different directions. So, while the performances are fine and affecting, it often feels like their stories get the short end of the stick. None of them truly get a complete story unto themselves. Yes, they have a beginning, middle, and end, but if you were to take the individual portions and piece them together, apart from the entirety, you will surely be disappointed bu the lack of development. In the end, this is the biggest problem with the movie, but it is one that is unavoidable considering the nature of the base story.

The story follows the foursome as they head off for the summer, following their return home from college. They meet and begin the cycle of sending the jeans to each other, hoping that the magic is still there. Tibby (Tamblyn) spends her time working at a video store while working on a script and dealing with her attentive boyfriend, Brian (Leonardo Nam). Lena (Bledel) recently found her romance from the first film is now married, she spends her time trying to get over a severely broken heart while working on her art. Carmen (Ferrara) follows her classmate, Julia (Nichols), to Vermont where she learns more about herself while working on a stage production. Finally, Bridget gets to travel to Turkey on an archaeological internship, but not without learning more about her mother's death and the letters from he grandmother (Blythe Danner) that had been hidden from her for years.

The tales work well with each other, but I wanted more of the individual stories. All right, enough harping on that. The bottom line is that I enjoyed the movie. The performances are all effective, although I have to say that I enjoyed Amber Tamblyn's Tibby the most. I think is has to do with me being a fan of movies and also having worked at a video store, but it also has to do with that snarky attitude that she exhibits.

The direction from Sanaa Hamri (Something New) is solid, if unspectacular. She does make great use of locations in New York, Turkey, and Greece, while never becoming a travelogue. Her style is not flashy, which is good considering this material is more about character than visual flash. The screenplay by Elizabeth Chandler does a fine job of keeping the stories moving forward and capturing different tones for each. There is a nice mix of drama and comedy that is not afraid to use cliches to their advantage.

Bottomline. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is a good film that delivers where Sex and the City fails. This movie has heart, surprising depth and characters that invite you into their lives, whereas Sex lets you wallow in shallow waters.

Recommended.