The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Ken Kwapis

Writers (WGA):

Ann Brashares (novel)
Delia Ephron (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Laugh. Cry. Share the pants.

Plot:

Four best girlfriends hatch a plan to stay connected with one another as their lives start off in different directions: they pass around a pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of their bodies perfectly.

Plot Keywords:

Pants | Jeans | Friendship | Soccer | Mexico

Awards:

1 win & 14 nominations

Cast

Amber Tamblyn	...	Tibby
Alexis Bledel	...	Lena
America Ferrera	...	Carmen
Blake Lively	...	Bridget
Jenna Boyd	...	Bailey
Bradley Whitford	...	Al
Nancy Travis	...	Lydia Rodman
Rachel Ticotin	...	Carmen's Mother
Mike Vogel	...	Eric
Michael Rady	...	Kostas
Leonardo Nam	...	Brian McBrian
Maria Konstadarou	...	Yia Yia (as Maria Konstandarou)
George Touliatos	...	Papou
Kyle Schmid	...	Paul Rodman
Erica Hubbard	...	Soccer Pal Diana

Also Known As:

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Australia) (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some sensuality and language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Greek | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Philippines:G | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:Btl | Canada:G | Iceland:L | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Alcon Entertainment

Trivia:

During the dinner scene with America Ferrera's character and her father's new family, Bradley Whitford began doing improv and kept the entire crew laughing, making it difficult for everyone to get through the scene with a straight face.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the film where the four girls are sitting at a round table at Carmen's fathers' wedding, the glasses of water are shown with different levels of fluid in them between shots. This is fine except that the last shot as the camera moves away show that the glasses have magically refilled themselves.

Quotes:

Yia Yia: In this life, family is the most precious gift we are given, the most sacred. Turn your back on them and that is when you truly have nothing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: James Franco/Kings of Leon (#34.2)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

UNWRITTEN

True to the Feel of the Book

We often have expectations that a movie will follow a book to the letter. Due to time limitations, creative ideas, etc. the film makers often need to adjust the story from the book to fit the film. As a lover of both books and film I ask that those who turn a book into a film follow the spirit and the feeling of the book. I believe the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants director and screenwriters did just that.

Basically the book tells the story of 4 teenage girls who are experiencing their first summer apart ever, since they have known each other since birth. Unbelievably, they find a pair of jeans which fits each girl amazingly well, although they have very different body shapes. They take this to mean the pants hold some sort of magic, so promise to send the pants to each other throughout the summer and use it as a way of keeping in touch with each other (thus - the traveling pants). The pants are sent from Tibby (staying at home) to Bridget (in Baja California, Mexico at Soccer camp) to Carmen (with her father in North Carolina) to Lena (visiting her grandparents in Greece).

Three of the story lines are very true to the book, although with slight variations. Tibby's storyline is almost a perfect match to the book, Bridget's is close, and Carmen's is slightly varied showing her in a less mature light than in the book. Lena's story, on the other hand, is told completely in reverse of the book. However, I can understand the need to make this change, as the twists and turns of Lena's story in the book would have been difficult to project onto film. The end result: the girls experience the same issues in the movie as they did in the book, and they change in the way the book indicated. The "feel" of the movie is the same as that in the book.

This film is truly a coming of age story about young high school girls. It is beautifully filmed with lovely scenery from both Greece and Mexico. The actors portraying the young girls are very well cast and match the descriptions from the book. As a librarian, I can tell you that no movie can ever equal the movie you make in your head while you are reading a book. But, this movie is beautiful in its own right, and a lovely story of growing up female and experiencing love, passion, death, and disappointment. The girls learn that the love and friendship they share will help them to get through all the issues of growing up.