I saw this movie mainly out of impulse. I had read the book before and thought it was superbly written with an interesting story. I admit the movie was not as good as the book, but I was very surprised about how much I actually enjoyed the film.
4 teenagers and best friends are split up for the summer, all heading in different directions. Carmen (America Ferrera), a 'drama queen', is off to South Carolina to visit her father, who does not live with her, only to get a surprise when she gets there; Bridget (Blake Lively), the sporty one, travels to a soccer camp in Mexico where she meets a guy; Lena (Alexis Bledel), a shy and beautiful girl, is headed for Greece where her grandparents live; and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), the rebel, is staying at home for the summer, where she becomes friends with Bailey, a 12 year old with leukemia that doesn't leave her alone. Some time before their separation, the friends find a pair of thrift shop jeans, that somehow magically manage to fit them all perfectly despite their completely different sizes, shapes, and builds. The four decide to share these jeans throughout the summer, each one posting it to the next, to somehow keep them together while they are apart. The girls seem to underestimate their magic, because the 'traveling pants' do much more them keep them together; it bears witness to all their difficulties and struggles during the summer and connects them, even though physically they are not together.
The four actresses all performed very well, though it is impossible to say which was the strongest performer, as each role was very different. I liked Amber Tamblyn a lot as Tibby though, after reading the book and seeing the film she seems perfect for her role. The little girl playing Bailey was not outstanding but cute enough. And the irritating guy who was Eric, Bridget's love interest, I found, could not act. And not to mention that it looked seriously dodgy, because he looked about 10 years older than her... Carmen's dad and family were adequate, their roles weren't big enough to comment much on. Overall the four protagonists were the stars, each one contributing immensely to the mood and style of the movie. They all shone and deserve full credit for the enjoyable approach and fun-factor in the film. The most impressive thing of the film was how the director Ken Kwapis managed to entwine the four stories together, I found the way the stories were linked to be better than the book in that aspect. I will watch this again, simply because it is great fun.
Greatly exceeded my expectations.
4 teenagers and best friends are split up for the summer, all heading in different directions. Carmen (America Ferrera), a 'drama queen', is off to South Carolina to visit her father, who does not live with her, only to get a surprise when she gets there; Bridget (Blake Lively), the sporty one, travels to a soccer camp in Mexico where she meets a guy; Lena (Alexis Bledel), a shy and beautiful girl, is headed for Greece where her grandparents live; and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), the rebel, is staying at home for the summer, where she becomes friends with Bailey, a 12 year old with leukemia that doesn't leave her alone. Some time before their separation, the friends find a pair of thrift shop jeans, that somehow magically manage to fit them all perfectly despite their completely different sizes, shapes, and builds. The four decide to share these jeans throughout the summer, each one posting it to the next, to somehow keep them together while they are apart. The girls seem to underestimate their magic, because the 'traveling pants' do much more them keep them together; it bears witness to all their difficulties and struggles during the summer and connects them, even though physically they are not together.
The four actresses all performed very well, though it is impossible to say which was the strongest performer, as each role was very different. I liked Amber Tamblyn a lot as Tibby though, after reading the book and seeing the film she seems perfect for her role. The little girl playing Bailey was not outstanding but cute enough. And the irritating guy who was Eric, Bridget's love interest, I found, could not act. And not to mention that it looked seriously dodgy, because he looked about 10 years older than her... Carmen's dad and family were adequate, their roles weren't big enough to comment much on. Overall the four protagonists were the stars, each one contributing immensely to the mood and style of the movie. They all shone and deserve full credit for the enjoyable approach and fun-factor in the film. The most impressive thing of the film was how the director Ken Kwapis managed to entwine the four stories together, I found the way the stories were linked to be better than the book in that aspect. I will watch this again, simply because it is great fun.
Greatly exceeded my expectations.