Review: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
You may wonder why I'm reviewing a children's film, but if it is acceptable and in fact almost expected for adults to have read Harry Potter, then there's no reason I can't read the Traveling Pants series and of course see the film. Although the film is not entirely faithful to the book, it was very enjoyable, having at least the same light-hearted fun-loving spirit. It's cheesy but in a very endearing, heart-warming way. If I was 5 years younger it would be my fave film of the year but as it is I still loved it.
The story focusses on four teenage girls who've been best friends since before they were born (their mums met at a pre-natal aerobic class) and each girl has their own story. Lena (played by the lovely Alexis Bleidel) is visiting her grandparents in Greece but ends up spending the time with someone far more interesting, Carmen (America Ferrera) feels neglected when she visits her dad and new step-family, Bridget (the highly annoying Blake Lively) heads East for football camp, although sports are the last thing on her mind, while poor Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is stuck at home working at Wallmans and making a documentary about the town's biggest losers.
The stories are tied together by their interactions by letter and sending the pair of jeans they share (which magically fit all of them, but clearly they just bought 4 pairs the same in different sizes) between them so they can all wear them at important moments during the summer. Although the story centres around a supposedly magical pair of jeans, it's still a fairly realistic storyline, compared to finding out you're a princess or switching bodies with your mother, for example. The girls all look 16, the age I think they're supposed to be, even though they actually range from 24 (Lena) to 18 (Bridget), although must have been about 2 years younger when it was filmed. Overall, there were no amazing effects, no award-winning performances, just a simple, fun film that really can't be disliked.
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