The Sisters Reunited

I was a huge fan of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and although this sequel doesn't quite match the magic of the first film, it still is very satisfying, warm, and touching.

The films are based off the popular young adult novels of the same name which follow the adventures of four very different and interesting young ladies, who are the best of friends.  The girls have just graduated from high school as the film begins and are planning unique summers.

Tibby is played by Amber Tamblyn, of Joan of Arcadia fame, and let me take a moment to stress how talented this young lady is as an actress.  She plays the role of Tibby with passion and heart, as she did with her character of Joan in Joan of Arcadia.  Tibby is the rebel out of the four girls; she marches to the beat of her own drummer. In this film, she has a pregnancy scare, and she learns some important lessons about growing up in the process.    

Lena is played by Alexis Bledel (Rory from Gilmore Girls!) and I felt her performance wasn't as up to par as the three other girls.  Lena is very reserved and withholding as a character, but Alexis seemed to be holding back a little too much with her emotions.  (Maybe I was expecting her to break out and just be Rory since I watch Gilmore Girls too much, but I digress...) Lena has her heart broken when her first love reveals that he has gotten married.  In an effort to move on, Lena takes an art course and meets someone else, but she quickly finds out that moving on is much harder than she thought it would be.

Carmen is played by American Ferrera (Ugly Betty!).  I really love America's performances, especially in these films.  She is a very talented actress and that scene in the first film where she calls her dad crying on the phone about why he hasn't been there for her gets to me every time because it's just so darn real!  Here, Carmen takes on a lead acting role in a play and deals with a jealous actress/roomie.  Her mother is remarried and expecting a baby any day.

Bridget is played by Blake Lively (of Gossip Girls fame.)  Blake does a very nice job as Bridget, who is full of energy and spunk as she journeys to Turkey for a dig, and later seeks out her grandmother, whom she has not seen since was little.  Turns out that her father hid her grandmother's letters on her.  Bridget has to come to terms with issues in her past throughout the film.

The four girls take separate journeys in this film as they did in the first.  This time around, however, their plan of mailing the traveling pants to each other seems to be more of a hassle than fun.  They don't take as much joy as they did with mailing the pants to the next person, and their letters are short and to the point.  This annoys Carmen and she is disappointed that things seems to be changing with her friends.  Carmen and Tibby get into a heated fight as frustrations bubble to the surface.

But in the end, the sisterhood is strong, and Carmen calls Tibby to be there for her mother as she gives birth because Carmen is not able to be there.  Later the girls all rally to help Lena in Greece.  I felt the film picked up when the girls were in Greece together.  Here the actresses work very well together in their scenes together.  P.S. Greece again is very beautiful in this film - I'd love to go there someday!

The girls discover that it is not the actual traveling pants that keep them together, but their friendships that are able to weather thick and thin.  As the girls discover this, it is tough not to think about those people in our lives that are always there, and the power of relationships.

I definitely enjoyed the four stories.  Maybe not as much as the four stories in the first film, but nevertheless, none of them were dull. They were very real situations that I feel everyone can relate to in some way.  The actresses did a fine job, and I enjoyed getting to see them all together again.  I was a little sad when the girls were not getting along, but in real life, nothing is perfect, and the film did stress that.  All friendships have bumpy spots.  It was great getting to see the girls enjoy Greece at the end and enjoy a sunset together, wondering where they would go next!

It seems that the actresses won't be committed to a third film, but if there was, I'd love to watch more about them.