Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (***)

THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ***



It would be easy to list the shortcomings of THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING
PANTS, based on Ann Brashares's popular novel, but, by creating some
endearing and genuine teenage characters, the movie really gets to you by
the end. The type of movie that is certain to be written off as just a
chick flick by some, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS touched this male
critic who is certainly not the right sex or age for the film's intended
demographics of tween and teen girls. I cried several times in the last
act, which fulfills the promises that you barely realize that it ever made
in the first place.



The most obvious problem in the picture is that the scripting is sometimes
paper thin. The story's central premise is that four girls agree to share a
pair of jeans one summer. They get this idea after the pants somehow fit
them even though their body types are quite different. They figure the
pants must possess some kind of magical powers. And, since they are all
going through some kind of family difficulty, they need all of the help they
can get.



These 17-year-old best buds have known each other since their moms shared a
prenatal aerobics class. With performances that are all dialed down a notch
or two from what you might expect in such a film, the young actress playing
these plum parts, run the gamut from A to B, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel,
America Ferrera, and Blake Lively.



Lively plays Bridget, whose mother recently died. Bridget is the wild
blonde who throws caution to the wind in trying to attract a slightly older
soccer coach at a camp in Mexico. This is a movie filled with innocent
kissing and is correctly rated PG. She is an über-athlete who runs
literally and figuratively away from her problems.



Bledel (TUCK EVERLASTING) plays Lena, Bridget's opposite. Lena, currently
off to Greece for the summer, is painfully shy, even when a hunk of a local
lad sets his eyes on her.



Ferrera (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES) plays Carmen, a full figured Latina who is
spending the summer in another state with the dad she normally sees only a
couple of days a year. Although she expects to finally bond with him this
summer, her plans are upset by a whiter than white, extra perky family her
non-Hispanic dad is marrying into. She really resents how she is treated,
but, like most of the story, the hurts and snubs are subtle.



The only one staying at home this summer is Tibby (Tamblyn). Since her mom
decided to start having kids again late in life, Tibby feels out of place.
She spends the summer working at a Wal-Mart like store called Wallman. A
"pain-in-the-ass" 12-year-old named Bailey (Jenna Boyd from THE MISSING),
starts hanging out with her. They eventually become friends around the time
that Tibby learns that Bailey has her own set of problems.



At first, whoever has the pants -- they mail them to each other after
wearing them for a week -- has bad luck befall them. But, upon further
examination, what at first appears to be bad luck turns out to have been
good.



I found the movie merely passable until the last act, when there were lots
of tears on the screen and in the audience. The trick is that by
underplaying all of the characters, they slowly work their way into our
hearts. These are real kids, not the overacted ones we've come to expect in
movies. By the end of the film, I was no longer sure what the right age
group was for the film. Although it would be completely acceptable for
tween and teens, I am not at all sure that they are going to appreciate it.
I guess we'll see. The book is popular with that age group so perhaps the
film will be as well.



THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS runs a little long at 1:58. It is
rated PG for "thematic elements, some sensuality and language" and would be
acceptable for kids around 7 and up.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, June 1, 2005.
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.



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