Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Movie review: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Based on Ann Brashares' best-selling series of novels about four young women who share an unbreakable bond through the unpredictable events of their lives, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" catches up with Tibby, Carmen, Bridget and Lena in the months following their first year of college. Having been apart all year, their plans for the summer will take them even further along separate paths as each experiences the freedom, love, choices and challenging life lessons that mark their individual journeys toward adulthood. Now, it will take more than a hurried note or even a treasured pair of pants passed back and forth among them to keep their lives connected.
Source: Cinema Source
When the fearsome foursome of America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn first put on those magical pants in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants back in 2005, life sure was different for each of them. Back then, Bledel and Tamblyn were the hot young actresses, with Bledel smack dab in the middle of the run of Gilmore Girls and Tamblyn wrapping an acclaimed role in Joan of Arcadia.
Fast forward three years and the roles have switched: Ferrera is now arguably the best known of the group thanks to her Emmy Award-winning lead role as Ugly Betty, and Lively is starring in the buzzworthy show Gossip Girl. There’s not an appreciable difference in the screen time for the four girls in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, but it’s almost a guarantee that Ferrera and Lively will draw in a new set of fans this time around.
The pants making a rare appearance.
The change in the focus of the film, meanwhile, is not so welcome. For the uninitiated, here’s the general gist: Four lifelong friends found a pair of jeans that, for some unknown magical reason, fits each of them perfectly. They agree to share the pants while they each go their own way over the summer, and they soon find out that the pants help them cope with their various problems.
The first time around, the girls were as tight a group as you could find, despite their separation. Each time one would receive the pants in the mail, it would only serve to strengthen their bond. They each had their own issues going on, but in the end, they would come back to each other. Now a few years older, the bond has slipped a little. The pants are dutifully sent back and forth, but they’ve lost much of their meaning.
I have such great frien... oh, look, a boy!
Now that each girl is in college, their relationships with boys gather much more significance. Lena (Bledel) is dealing with a change in her courtship with Greek fling Kostas (Michael Rady) and a possible new suitor in art model Leo (Jesse Williams, who had literally every woman in my screening swooning). Tibby (Tamblyn) is now in a relationship with her friend Brian (Leonardo Nam), although she still has a reticence toward intimacy. Carmen (Ferrera) has to deal with a new stepfather, a pregnant mother, and college life, but her story still swirls around whether or not Ian (Tom Wisdom), an actor, is into her or not. Bridget (Lively) is surprisingly the only one exempt from the male-centric action, going on an archaeology dig and finding out she still has issues stemming from her mother’s suicide.
Perhaps this (male) critic is wrong, but it seems that the appeal of the first film was the four girls’ friendship. When that friendship takes a back seat to a bunch of other stuff in the sequel, the story suffers because of it. Their issues also seemed to have much more importance in the first film. Instead of Lena learning about herself and growing up, now she has to choose between two boys? Instead of Carmen struggling with a new family dynamic, she’s dealing a random new friend and … acting? And not to denigrate Bridget’s feelings, but didn’t she deal with her mom in the first film, too? Can we find something new?
Four girls, no magical pants -- what's wrong with this picture?
The strangest aspect of the film, though, is the lack of import put on the pants. For a story that seemingly bases itself around them, having them just pushed aside seems rather curious. Sure, it’s probably symbolic of how each of them are growing and that the pants aren’t needed as much anymore, but given the inordinate amount of strife each goes through in this film, one would think they’d want their magic more, not less.
No major fault can be found in any of the acting in the film. Ferrera comes off the best, most likely because her role calls for to do what she does best – act. Lively and Tamblyn each get to bite down on some decent drama and each acquits herself just fine. Comparatively, Bledel has the most boring story arc, and yet it’s her story that bookends the film.
What Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is mostly missing is any kind of real emotion. Most of the issues the girls deal with in this film seem relatively frivolous compared to the first film. And pushing the sisterhood apart because of frivolous problems seems rather silly indeed.
