The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Review By moviegeek

As a group of four friends all try on the same pair of jeans, with remarkable results, they realize that these are no ordinary pants. What are these pants and why do they matter? Aside from creating some connection between four separate stories, they don't matter. These darned pants hold back what could be a very good, sincere drama, to just a casual and fanciful effort.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants produces four likable and believable friends: Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Lena (Alexis Bledel), Carmen (America Ferrera), and Bridget (Blake Lively). They are all childhood friends who are going to spend a summer away before college. After the magic pants arrive, they decide to pass the pants around so they each can experience wonders within them.

These four girls each give great performances. America Ferrera gives, arguably, the best. Her realistic depiction of a broken and hurt young woman is both real and heart-breaking. The other three actresses give strong performances as well.

The movie is divided into four simultaneous storylines: Tibby befriends a sarcastic 12-year-old, eager to help her with a new doc*mentary she is shooting. Bridget goes to soccer camp where she falls for one of the coaches. Lena goes to visit family in Greece where she meets a fisherman. And Carmen visits her runaway father, only to discover that his life has moved on secretly.

For some reason, the filmmakers managed to connect all of the storylines here well and fluently. There was no rush or anxiety in the pacing, nor was there tedious or labored pacing. The stories all reach nice levels of sincerity and real emotion, and none of them feel out of place.

The stories, the acting, and the drama all work very well. But the pants don't! Quite simply, regardless of the sisterly bond they feel it gives them, the jeans are a dumb and needless addition to a already good drama. I would have liked to see the girls say that what happened to them was not on account of the jeans (??) but instead on account of either fate, or circ*mstance, or even purpose.

The Sisterhood: 4.0 stars. The Traveling Pants: 2.0 stars. Do the math.