The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Just perfect...

Beautiful, moving film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Sisterhood of the traveling pants. Stepping outside your front door to bird song, Sun and the slight chill of an early morning awakens like nothing else, a sense of adventure for the experiences to be invoked by the day and those around you. This film genre in my opinion therefore is "reality adventure".Setting the scene The introduction to the film clearly lays out what is expected with the plot. This makes the film relaxing to follow and your interest focus centralised on the characters themselves and their lives rather than understanding the story-line. This in my opinion enables sufficient emotional engagement for a relaxing, yet entertaining film thereby reducing boredom. Main body The spirit of adventure is integral to the fascinating story-line of this film. Friendship Unites the experiences encountered by the characters over summer. The setting is varied to match the myriad of scenes and environments explored. Intrigue is present from the slightly comical and light hearted title which captures the essence of what is truly important. When exploring the characters lives, great emphasis is placed on a key character introduced from the get-go which slows the pace of the movie a little too much, creating a slightly laborious lull in the films' midpoint. Things are soon picked up however, and keep you entertained till the conclusion. This is due to an emotional roller-coaster of sadness and love which keeps the scene progression dynamic. Music The soundtrack whilst cheesy at times, has quite a few non-mainstream tunes which are pleasant and relaxing to listen to. EndingI guess the diverse relationships, friendships and interaction of all characters, the materialistic nature of clothing and the shared experiences in many locations challenges the notion of happiness. A well thought out conclusion of what this truly means provides a punchy ending. Summary A good emotive reality adventure film in need of a little pacing up and soundtrack tweaking. Actors and actresses play emotions and roles well and there are the right number of characters for viewer engagement and empathy.

The story line behind the movie was not that very exciting and the movie lost its way multiple times. I wish there were 3 girls instead of 4 as it really got difficult to keep track of each of them unless you are totally hooked to the movie. None of the characters had an interesting personality that one could make a favorite of. There are not many movies about female bonding and in that respect it does a quiet okay job. Overall its just so so. I watched it on television and I guess that's the best way to be watching. I could not feel the emotions that the characters went through and found the same to be very cold at all the times. The only thing that kept me sitting was to learn what was going to occur at the end and if there were any exciting twists. Unfortunately the only twist i had was not to have one.

I don't know why, and many may not approve, but "Now and then" has always represented the ultimate girl 'life changing experience' movie, and "Stand by me" the same but with boys. I talk about boys and girls, not adolescents. Maybe I missed many movies, and maybe I watch "Now and then" today and my impression is completely different, but somehow a big change when being a kid strikes me harder than one when being a teenager; even more if the women those kids became are there to look back on it. In "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", a 'feel good movie' based on a popular novel, director Ken Kwapis has the intention of making the viewer believe that what his characters go through is sort of life changing. Four friends (there were four also in "Now and then"), after being their whole lives together, separate for one summer, and decide that a pair of pants that magically fits all of them, travels one week with each, carrying the experiences lived by everyone while having them. Carmen (America Ferrera) is kind of our official narrator, and she introduces us to her best friends, in something like this: "The shy and beautiful Lena (Alexis Bledel), the strong and overwhelming Bridget (Blake Lively), the unique Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), and me, the writer". These ARE stereotypes, the movie admits them and tries to take them as it can. In fact, this is what saves 'Sisterhood' from being a complete disaster.The girls go separate ways, they don't stick together; therefore, each of them 'grows' and 'changes' on their own. By having four different plot-lines to work, Kwapis and writers Delia Ephron ("You've Got Mail") and Elizabeth Chandler (the masterful "A little princess") are able to take a big breath. Since they don't have the four girls together (in fact, when they do cheesiness is extreme, unreal and sometimes unbearable), they work with their individual journeys.This is the saving grace of the movie precisely because we get to watch different aspects of it. If it weren't for the unquestionable excess of light, I could risk to tell you that the four stories are completely different. They are differently shot, written, acted and the only thing that unites them is the obligatory presence of the pants. Carmen goes through a family drama, with a dad that apparently doesn't care for her; Bridget lives a typical teenage forbidden romance; Lena does also, but her story is individually more complex; and Tibby continues to experience life as it is, shooting it for a documentary with the help of an unexpected friend played marvelously by Jenna Boyd. Some of the stories have nice moments (I liked Tibby's story the most because of its ordinary quality, free from any big or spectacular characteristic), or nice shots (Lena travels to Greece), even unexpected resolutions, but ultimately the problem of the film is that everything is automatic, with a predictable outcome. The tagline reads "Cry. Laugh. Share the pants". Kwapis is so immerse in making us believe that these girls go through a big change that this affects the whole movie. The score by Cliff Eidelman (he also did the score of "Now and then"; oh coincidence!) is unnecessarily moving and the performances are affected by this obligatory 'change' factor, that the movie reaffirms in the end by relieving the pants-only element that connected everything-of any responsibility. If anything, "The Sisterhood of the traveling Pants" is useful to reaffirm other things, whether good or bad. That Amber Tamblyn is more than Joan ("Joan of Arcadia") and Alexis Bledel is not more than Rory ("Gilmore Girls"); that America Ferrera is truly powerful and deserves the best, and Blake Lively is truly overwhelming and has versatility. There are fine male actors too, but this time it was about the girls. Oh, and they deserve that I watch the film's second part.

I loved this film. The performances were wonderfully done, the scenery and settings were splendid, the script was great (I know it's based on a book and I know it may differ in some ways, but... ). Truly a well-told coming-of-age story without too much of anything that would be disturbing for parents with kids, yet with enough poignancy, romance, and believability to be a hit with the whole family. I'm sure the target audience is teenage girls, but it manages to be much more than that.One of the best I've seen in a while... too bad I missed it when it was in the cinema, but I'm glad it found its way home on DVD.