Traveling Pants Work Their Magic Again

This summer The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is back with a sequel that will satisfy those that loved the original and most readers of the novels the movies are based upon. The movie opens with a montage of what has happened since we first met the girls three years ago and catches us up to date with what is going on as they embark on the summer after their first year of college.

Carmen (America Ferrera) can not wait to catch up with her friends and spend the entire summer together, only to find out everyone else has other plans. Lena (Alexis Bledel) will be taking a figure drawing class at her Rhode Island art school, Bridget (Blake Lively) was accepted to take part in an archaeological dig in Turkey, and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) will be repeating her screenwriting class at NYU due to her romantic comedy couple breaking up. With everyone heading their separate ways, Carmen follows new college friend Julia (Rachel Nichols) to Vermont for a theatre festival.

Of course all sorts of romantic and life entanglements pursue and director Sanaa Hamri and screenwriter Elizabeth Chandler do a superb job weaving in and out of the girls' separate storylines with relative ease. This movie is a combination of the last three books in the series and so book followers will have a little more insight into each character, but may be slightly distracted by the rearranging of the time events take place when comparing it to the novels. While this shift helps the film flow more naturally, it may be frustrating to readers who know the lives of each girl as much as their own.

This film is rated PG-13 and deservedly so. As the girls are about to leave their teenage years behind, they are approaching adulthood and the maturity that goes along with that. However, the mature themes throughout the film are tasteful, never gratuitous, and are issues that most teenage girls and young adults can relate to and empathize with. Each actress proves that they are the next big talents to come out of Hollywood with the in-depth portrayal of their characters. Amber Tamblyn does a particularly good job portraying Tibby's fear of letting people in that lies beneath her sarcastic attitude and quick wit.

Friendships are not always as comfortable as a worn pair of jeans and this friendship is no exception. However, the love each girl has for each other is strong and true; just the kind of friendship every one wishes for and some truly lucky already have. Take a friend or two to see it, and you are guaranteed an enjoyable time. Take an acquaintance and you might just find yourself at the beginning of a beautiful friendship.