Review: 'Traveling Pants' Predictable, But Magical

'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' (PG)(out of four)

If you've ever had an item of clothing that you believe makes things happen, you'll relate to the movie "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

The film is geared to pre-teen, teenage girls and it's a great movie for mothers and daughters to see together.

At the preview I attended, girls walked in clenching their worn copies of Ann Brashare's best-selling novel. One of the most important things to the girls was whether the movie stuck closely to the book. My teen reviewers said it did.

The story is about four high school girls from Maryland who each have plans for the summer that will take the life-long friends on different journeys. Lena (Alexis Bledel) will go to Greece to visit her grandparents; Carmen (America Ferrera) will spend some quality time with her divorced father in Virginia; Bridget (Blake Lively), a star soccer player, will go to camp in Mexico; and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) will stay close to home to make money for video equipment she wants to buy.

On a trip that the four make together to a thrift store, they find a pair of jeans that each fits the girls -- who are all shapes and sizes -- precisely right. They decide that the magical jeans are just the tonic they need to stay connected for the summer. Each girl will wear the jeans and recount her experiences, but they must follow 10 rules of the pants, which include musts such as "never double-cuff the pants," "never let a boy take off the pants," and, this gem: "You must not pick your nose while wearing the pants." The most important rule of the pants, however, is to "love your pals. Love yourself."

Although some of the plot line is predictable, a sick kid with cancer, a girl coming to grips with her father being remarried and his new family, and teen-aged angst about boys and the future, the actresses are so earnest in their portrayals, you can't help but forgive some sappy moments.

Most of the cast already has some serious roles under their collective belts. If the girls look familiar, it's not surprising. Tamblyn had a great run in the now-canceled television show "Joan of Arcadia," Bledel was in the films "Sin City" and "Tuck Everlasting," and Ferrera's performance was unforgettable in "Real Women Have Curves." Although Lively is the newcomer, she lights up the screen and most likely has producers already knocking at her door. Keep an eye out for the youngster who plays sidekick Bailey (Jenna Boyd), who managed to bring a few tears to my eyes.

Meanwhile, director Ken Kwapis must have had some fun filming some of the adventures. The Travel Channel-esque travelogue of Lena's trip to Greece will make you want to book your next vacation to the island of Santorini.

The movie carries a fairly simplistic message movie that allows teenage girls to know that they aren't alone in their confusion and that even a pair of magical pants can't make everything wonderful. It's an enjoyable two hours spent following the traveling pants and the stories they help to unearth.

By the way, if you want to know what happens to the girls after the summer of the pants, don't worry: Brashare has second and third "Summer of the Sisterhood" books in the can, which means a sequel can't be far behind.