10. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008, Dramedy)

Movie #10: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008, Dramedy)

Okay, okay. I admit that one of my favorite parts of my job is that it "requires" me (i.e. doesn't actually require me to, but I prefer to phrase it that way) to stay current on Young Adult literature. So that I can recommend books to kids. Of course. For no other reason do I feverishly anticipate each new addition to Kate Brian's Private series, stalking Amazon for release dates and then hurriedly rushing out to the nearest chain bookstore the day it is released. Nope. No personal enjoyment there. At all. At least it is somewhat relevant to my job -- so I feel like I can get away with reading books I might otherwise feel like I need to hide (as, you know, a teacher of literature and someone who is not, in fact, 12). The same can be said of why I watch Degrassi: The Next Generation and compulsively decided to buy copies of both The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel!

So it's not like I had high hopes for this movie. It falls firmly into the junk food category of my media intake. I'm aware that it's certainly not doing me any favors in the intellectual development department, but sometimes it's just what you want. Comfort food for the brain. Anyway, I had a snowday and thought it just might hit the spot. And it sort of did.

I really enjoyed the first movie, and I generally really like movies that feature separate storylines that sort of weave in and out of one another. And I like friendship. The second movie did not go down quite as well as the first, though, and I can't quite grasp why. I think some of the weirdness might come from the fact that while the first movie was an adaptation of the first book, the sequel was an adaptation largely of book #4 (and including elements of storylines from books 2 and 3) -- and maybe that was unwise of the writers (though I can see why they would choose to do that). I haven't read anything but the first book -- I probably should. For my research of course.

Some of the storylines and characters did not evolve as much as I would have liked. Carmen (played by America Ferrara) is still dealing with blended-family issues (though this time, it is her mother who is making her feel left out) and a severe lack of self-esteem ... she has not developed much of a sense of self yet, which is frustrating as a viewer. At least in this movie her character gets a little play. Lena (Alexis Bledel) has probably grown the most as a character since the first movie, but seems to force herself back into who her character used to be (and is helped along by her friends, who uncomfortably insist in a pivotal scene that she is not strong enough to do what she has to do alone ... mmm, empowerment!). Bridget (Blake Lively) continues to be the glamorous one, whose family woes are never resolved or appropriately develop. And is sometimes a very serious soccer player and sometimes an aspiring archaeologist (who, of course, makes a HUGE find). Always inconsistent. And then Tibby still gets the crappiest storyline.

And, of course, all of this is told through dialogue as cliched and contrived as one might imagine.

But sometimes, it's just what you're in the mood for, which is why I gave this a Final Grade: B- (instead of the C-area grade it deserved)

This movie was watched on 2/10/10.
This review was posted on February 18th but was postdated for continuity.