Written by Pollo Misterioso
The title of this film immediately connotes “chick flick.” Not only does it seem to be a movie only about women, there is a magical element that refers to jeans that can travel. But there is something much more to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and it isn’t just that it is the sequel. This film is a wonderful testament to young women and the relationships that they have, even if it does connect them by a pair of pants that can fit them all.
Based off the book Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood writer Ann Brashares has allowed her second novel to be auctioned into the second Sisterhood movie. Directed by Sanaa Hamri and with its original cast, including Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), with some new faces, the story stays true to the friendship between the four girls, picking up right where it had left off.
Carmen (Ferrera) is that familiar narrator that ties the story together, struggling to keep her friends close as they all go separate ways for the summer. With a short montage in the beginning of the film, we find out where these girls have gone—all to different colleges, pursuing different things. Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is at NYU and has to stay there over summer to re-take a screenwriting class. Lena (Alexis Bledel) is back from Greece and is taking a life-drawing art class for the summer. Bridget (Lively) is off to Turkey for an archeological dig, leaving Carmen to go to a theater workshop as a stagehand so that she will not be alone all summer.
The pants play a very minor role this time around. They are still mailed to each girl in a certain rotation, connecting their storylines and only slightly referencing the magic that occurs from wearing them. Apparently when the pants are worn, they work in mysterious ways, not only being that they fit each girl, but helpful—as when Tibby has a pregnancy scare; she wears them and soon after gets her period. Lena is faced with her old love, Kostas, reappearing in her life after she finds out that he had been married and then later divorced. Bridget wears the pants in Turkey and realizes the importance of family and that she must reconnect with her father and grandmother. Carmen takes on a new role as the lead actress in the summer production, battling with mixed emotions about her friends and her needs.
Refreshing to most female-oriented films are the problems that these girls face, separately—coming together and reaching out when they need help from one another. There are family problems, relationship bumps, and personal struggles challenging each one of these girls as they are trying to find themselves. But however far apart they are, they always stay connected, not through pants, but a female bond that cannot be so easily worn.
Life is not always picture-perfect, as many chick-flicks have it seem, and Sisterhood 2 captures moments and fears that are realistic and therefore they are heartfelt and redeeming. The tagline for this film is “some friends just fit together” and like your favorite pair of jeans, true friends are reliable, comfortable, and perfect even with all the flaws.
The DVD extras include a funny gag reel that is fun to watch if you really enjoy watching how close the girls got on set. There is a deleted scenes feature that the director introduces, making it interesting to hear why they decided to cut or ever why they shot the particular scene. The most interesting featurette would have to be the documentation of how they decided to add the final scene into the film. It is the cliff jump and I’ll just say that it came from real life before it was put on screen.
