Interested in watching a movie that changes how people look at themselves and discover revelations about their lives? Then "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" isn't the film to watch.
"The Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants" is a story of four teenage girls that have known each other all of their lives and now are spending their summer apart. Just before they are about to leave, they go shopping and find a pair of jeans that, by coincidence, happens to fit all four girls.
The girls agree to keep the pants for a week's time and then mail them to the next person. They decide to make rules for wearing the pants that each person must abide by while they have them.
Throughout the movie, the pants travel to Italy with Lena (Alexis Bledel) as she visits her grandparents, to Mexico with Bridget (Blake Lively) as she goes to soccer camp, to Southern California with Carmen (America Ferrera) as she visits her father and back home to Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), who she works at a local department store.
This movie was an attempt to touch the audience's heart by showing a coming-of-age story of the girls over the summer. They all face issues of love and growth throughout their months apart.
The movie does an exceptional job of moving along as it chronicles the story of the four girls throughout the summer. It's intriguing to find out what happens to the girls as the story transitions from one vignette to the next.
Another thing the film does well is bring out valid issues that teenagers encounter. Carmen has to deal with a rocky relationship with her father. Bridget copes with her first time having sex and the feelings that come with it. Lena finds her first "true" love and learns about relationships. And finally, Tibby must face the emotions of losing her friends.
There are a few things "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" lacked.
It struggled to find a point throughout the film. It shows a lot about the girls' lives, but there is not any real plot or overall sweeping themes. The viewers don't know why each scene is taking place.
At times, the director, Ken Kwapis, adds scenes to the production that seemed pointless and don't contribute to the plotline.
The movie also has a lackluster ending. Sure, the film goes chronologically from the beginning of the summer to the end, but it does not bring a cohesive conclusion for all the story lines and leaves the viewer unsatisfied.
Screenwriters Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler should have written a better ending to make it was clear how the girls had changed over the summer. One way to do this would have been to extend the movie a little bit longer and show more of how the girls interacted with each other. It never really shows the effects of their different experiences in the group.
And where are the pants in this? For being in the title of the film, they have a minimal effect on the actual plot. The pants travel from girl to girl, but that's about it.
The acting was a sore spot. It might have been because the film had a young cast, but there's no excuse. The girls don't seem like they were fully into their roles - sometimes the actresses appear cheesy and cliché.
The reality of the actions the girls took was also unsatisfactory. For example, Bridget was a good girl, but then when it came to wanting her soccer coach, she would seemingly do anything to try and get with him. She was 17, not 22. Lena went from not being able to associate with the man that she wants to being all over him in a matter of days.
Overall, the movie was mediocre. The director did a good job keeping the viewers feeling like they were up to date on all the girls throughout the film, but it lacked in the plot department. It was uninteresting and didn't have enough ups and downs.
Someone looking for a feel-good feature should see this movie. However, if audiences are looking for a real movie that they can actually take something away from, see "Cinderella Man" instead.
