The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

In the 2005 original film based on Ann Brashares' bestselling YA series, the titular traveling pants were a magical pair of jeans shared by four friends over a summer. Filmmaker Sanaa Hamri's sequel continues to follow the quartet as they learn valuable life lessons while sheathed in the mystical denim. Carmen's (America Ferrara) vacation stint as a stagehand in a Vermont playhouse takes on added heft when she is dragged into an audition by a talented British actor (Tom Wisdom) and snags the female lead. Lena (Alexis Bledel) spends the summer at the Rhode Island School of Design, still in love with a Greek guy (Michael Rady). Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), possibly the most argumentative video store clerk in history, struggles in her romance with Brian (Leonardo Nam). And Bridget (Blake Lively), while on an archeological dig in Turkey, bonds with the supervising professor (Shohreh Aghdashloo) before flying home to seek out her long-lost grandmother (Blythe Danner). The beautifully photographed film cuts from one story to another while serving up admittedly romantic clichés, but the young actresses are uniformly excellent in their roles, coming across as warm, intelligent, vulnerable, and sincere. Sure to be popular with fans of Brashares' books, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include nine minutes of additional scenes, a “Go Jump Off a Cliff” featurette on the final sequence in the film (5 min.), a four-minute gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a solid sequel.] (E. Hulse)