The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, is much more than a movie, it is a story about life, in fact the lives of four young women, Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget, all of whom we met three years ago (2005) in the initial movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In the showing that I attended, there were several spots throughout the movie when the teenage girls who had flocked to the theater, giggled. They giggled in all the spots where you expected and hoped that they would, but this movie appeals to a much broader demographic than just teenage girls. If you have ever had to discern during those critical moments of your life, those who were your true friends versus the phony ones, then you will understand what transpires in the lives of these four young women. If you have ever lost a loved one and struggled with the sense of loss and perhaps unjustified guilt, then you will appreciate Bridget’s struggle to deal with her mother’s death, four years before this movie takes place. This movie is about love, competition for love and hearts that get broken. It is also about falling in love again and it is about second chances.

 

There may be men out there (and for the record I am a man) who may dismiss this movie as just another chick flick, and if you do, I feel sorry for you, because you have missed the point of this fine film. You have failed to understand those things which women cherish most. You need to have your wife, girlfriend, sister or a close female friend sit down and explain it to you.

 

It would be incredibly difficult to pick out a best actress for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, for Amber Tamblyn (Tibby Tomko-Rollins), Alexis Bledel (Lena Kaligaris), America Ferrera (Carmen Lowell) and Blake Lively as Bridget Vreeland, all turn in superb performances. Their characters are so interlinked and dependent upon one another, and although each of them has their own moment in the sun, I would not want to be the one choosing a best actress if this movie or its cast is nominated for an Academy Award. It strikes me as somewhat ironic, that Ann Brashares who wrote the series of novels upon which the two The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies were based, grew up in a family with three brothers and no sisters.

 

Elizabeth Chandler did a very good job with the screenplay, as the film unfolds much like a novel would read segueing easily between the lives of Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget.  Tibby stays at home, works in a video store while writing her play and dealing with love issues. Bridget begins her road to self-discovery and coping with her mother’s death while on an archaeological dig. Carmen goes to Vermont to work in the theater and learns more about love and life than she probably dreamed possible. Lena goes off to college to study art. Never do you get the sense that this movie is jerking you back and forth between their lives, because always those magical pants and the letters keep these lives interwoven.

 

Not to be outdone Leonardo Nam as Carmen’s love interest Brian McBrian turns in a very strong performance, and Tom Wisdom as Ian is also superb. Ernie Lively, Blake Lively’s father appears in this movie, cast as Bridget’s father.

 

Di Novi Pictures / Debra Martin Chase Production, in association with Alloy Entertainment have produced an outstanding movie in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Warner Bros. Pictures released this excellent feature film.

 

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is the best movie about the friendship shared between women, since Barbara Hershey and Bette Midler starred in Beaches.

  

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Reviewed August 2008

 

This review is dedicated to my best friend Monica, who during these past eight years has taught me the meaning of true friendship.