Predictably, unlike the crowded screenings for The Dark Knight or Swing Vote, when it came to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the reserved press section had enough vacancies that the seats next to mine were released rather quickly. Soon enough, a kind, educated couple and their adorable, roughly nine-year-old aspiring blogger/film critic daughter became my impromptu movie buddies. Surprised to see such a young face amidst a theatre filled with halter top-wearing, high-heeled shoe adorned teenage girls who all looked like they’d mistaken the screening for a Gossip Girl audition or a Miley Cyrus concert, I eagerly chatted with the amiable family.
Quickly I learned that their daughter was not only the biggest fan of The Sisterhood but had also — unlike this reviewer whose schedule prevented proper preparation — recently watched the original 2005 film a few times earlier in the week to double check where the director Ken Kwapis had bookmarked the lives of Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Lena (Alexis Bledel), Carmen (America Ferrera), and Bridget (Blake Lively). While Kwapis didn’t return for the Sisterhood reunion, Warner Brothers made an excellent choice in bringing in the talented Sanaa Hamri, who is not only a female director and thus more in tune with memories of female post-adolescent identity crises but also one whose wonderfully uplifting and overlooked romantic comedy Something New was one of the best entries into the genre over the last few years.
Although unaware of any changes behind the scenes, the contagious enthusiasm expressed by my new young seatmate made me recall just how surprisingly good the first movie had been. Given its intelligence, humor, warmth, and compassion, it put to shame all of the forced women’s bonding films such as the anti-feminist Georgia Rule and stereotypical Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
Additionally, the fact that a girl that young could view the film speaks volumes for its family friendly quality. And although both the original and especially the sequel do contain some issues that make the most of its PG-13 rating, the filmmakers and screenwriter Elizabeth Chandler (taking plots from numerous titles in the series by Ann Brashares) ensure that it’s all handled with taste. Besides, luckily it appeared that my seatmate seemed to have the ideal parents with whom she could consult were there any lingering concerns she wanted to discuss after the film. Therefore it was joyous to see parents and children both enjoying a film together and appreciating aspects of it on different levels as some jokes played better to males in the audience than females and others struck a chord with varying generations.
Article comments
1 - reseam
It actually sounds like the stayed pretty true to the books, and the ending that you say seems added, is the ending for the 4th book. It wasn't thrown together it's how it happened.
I know they would have to pull together elements of the other 3 books into this one, so it makes it seem "overfull". That's why for example, Bridget's storyline is cramped. You have her meeting her grandmother which is book 2, and the dig which is in book 4. You mentioned them not sharing much screen time, and in the books they don't share much time together either. So it wouldn't have been right to do it.
This is a story about their lives..and friendship, both together and apart.
2 - Jen
Thanks for your comment-- it was really cool to learn which elements came from which books since it's obvious you know the series well. Awesome!
Unfortunately, I hadn't read the books but when they tried to cram in the plots from the other books into one movie, it overwhelmed the script and the girls' stories seemed cheated since it all happens so fast and that ending from #4 just kind of swoops in.
I was glad you clarified Bridget's grandmother & dig plots-- makes me actually want to pick up the books since in the film, it was rushed and I would've preferred to read about it in the two books so the adequate amount of time was spent.
It's entertaining so I do think you'll really enjoy it, if you haven't seen it yet but while it's about their lives-- I guess like Bledel's show Gilmore Girls, the scenes shared together are my favorite!