Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Movie

The Plot

Four college students struggle to hold onto their relationships as they venture out into adulthood.

Starring

Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Jenna Boyd, Bradley Whitford, Nancy Travis, Rachel Ticotin, Michael Rady, Leonardo Nam, Maria Konstandarou, George Touliatos, and more.

Review

I remember when the previews for Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants first appeared on my television screen. I thought to myself, “Why on earth would someone want to watch that?” Then my daughter said, “I would!” and so we ventured out into the movie theatre. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the film not only had substance, but really helped parents understand their teenage girls. So when Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 came out, I couldn’t wait to take my daughter. Then came the video and a mother-daughter evening in.

In the original, four girls—best friends—go clothes shopping when they discover a pair of jeans that fits not one but all four of the girls. Had the girls been the same body size and height, they would have thought nothing of the jeans. But since each girl’s body differed, they knew there was something magical about the jeans and so they bought them—making a pack to share them over summer break and report back about any experiences they have while wearing them. This weekly exchanged allowed the bonds the girls developed over the year to continue to grow and be nurtured.

Fast forward to the sequel and you have four girls who have been friends for years that are now being separated by college dreams. While three of the friends seem to be okay with the separation, one friend is left feeling very alone, isolated, and ignored—wondering if their friendships could survive the distance and time apart.

The sequel concentrates less on the magic of the pants and more on the trials of four girls as they try to find their way into adulthood. High school is over and the girls are all enrolled in college. They’re supposed to spend the summer together but life tears them apart—one girl must attend summer school, another takes on a role as a stage hand and lands the leading role, another returns to Greece to be with her grandparents, and the fourth finds herself on an archeological dig.

And true-to-life, the girls develop a set of “adult-like” problems in which they could really use the help of a “best” friend, but instead choose to handle their problems on their own. Of course, this causes strife in a few of the relationships and distances the girls emotionally—not just physically.

Then, just when the girls are about to walk away from their friendship, the pants come up missing and the girls join forces to try to find them—hoping that they still have a little magic left in them, after all. They never do find the pants but in trying to locate them, they find each other again—vowing to not let time, distance, or adulthood separate them again.

It’s a lesson we could all take stock in. How many times have we been too busy to seek the help, the advice, or the support of a trusted friend? How many times have we allowed life’s circumstances to destroy otherwise good relationships?

Your Task

Take the time to watch both Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 1 and 2. Then turn the evening into a Girls Night In—filled with laughter, talking, yummy food, and home spa treatments. Once the treatments are over, take the time to write a long, lost friend then have one of the gals drop the letters in the mail, on her way home.

Order Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants today!