By Madeline Kerins
It doesn’t arrive in theaters until June, but the story behind The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants has been infiltrating the hearts of young and old for years. The story began in a book by the same title, written by Ann Brashares and published in 2001. Since then, Brashares has updated the story of four teenagers brought together by a pair of thrift store jeans into two more paperbacks and a spin-off movie.
While many prefer to read the book before watching the film inspired by it, it doesn’t always work out that way (especially when randomly given complimentary tickets to an advance screening while visiting friends in Delaware). Some advanced reviews of the film take this factor highly into consideration, so keep in mind, this review was written without any knowledge of the story or characters other than what is given in the film.
That said, The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants might have originally been aimed at the hearts of the preteen and teenage sets, but if a theater full of smiling and sniffling 20-something college students is any indicator, then this movie will appeal to older demographics as well.
File this under the most classic of “chick flicks.” Though it embodies all the stereotypes of the most undeniably tacky genre of film ever, The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants somehow manages to be absolutely adorable anyway. It includes all the elements that epitomize a typical girly movie: divorce, death, cancer, heartache, self-esteem, separation, travel, sex and, of course, friendships that withstand all the aforementioned obstacles life throws at them. Think of it as an updated Now And Then.
With enough of an introduction for viewers to understand the origins of the friendship, the movie jumps to the day before four very different girl friends will spend their first summer apart at the all too ripe age of sweet 16. While shopping at a local thrift shop, one of the girls comes across a pair of vintage Levi’s and eventually all four try them on, only to find that-miraculously! -the pants flatter all four of the dramatically differently figured girls equally. Deeming the pants magical, Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Lena (Alexis Bledel), Carmen (America Ferrera) and Bridget (Blake Lively) create a set of ten commandments to be followed while wearing the pants, vowing to let the pants be the link between them during their time apart
Summer takes the girls to poles apart, but each makes a vast discovery in the process. Insecure-to-a-fault Lena heads to Greece to visit family, only to discover herself, and in the process, love. Sweet, chubby Carmen takes a trip down to South Carolina expecting to spend some much deserved quality time with her divorced father, only to find herself competing with his soon-to-be wife and her children for dad’s affection.
Blunt and rebellious wannabe filmmaker Tibby stays in home in Bethesda, Maryland for the summer, but an experience her first day working at Wallaman’s superstore changes her life forever when she befriends a young neighborhood girl with Leukemia. Sexually confident soccer star Bridget heads to Mexico for all-girl’s camp, but her hook-up with a coach leads her to realize the emptiness she feels after her mom’s death won’t be filled until she learns to love herself.
Throughout all of these breakthroughs and realizations, the girls chronicle their journeys by sending each other the pants every week. By the movie’s end, they find themselves accepting flaws, getting over broken hearts and realizing that when all’s said and done, they’ll always have one another.
Despite an abundance of clichés and super cheesiness, it’s hard to keep a dry eye, as much as one might try to resist (not speaking from personal experience or anything). As long as it is enjoyed at face value and taken with a grain of salt, The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants will, at least, put a little smile on your face. (But it’s okay if you cry, we won’t tell!)
Final Grade: B+