In the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie, four friends are deeply bonded together through a ritual they create around a pair of jeans that miraculously fits them all. One summer, they pass the pants along to one another during their adventures in different places.
This sequel is directed by Sanaa Hamri and based on a screenplay by Elizabeth Chandler from the novels of Ann Brashares. Following their first year of college at different schools, the four young women meet and discover that they have plans for the summer that will keep them apart. There is little interest among them in going through the same old ritual surrounding the pants. They vow to again share them but it is obvious that the pants have lost their magic for them. Ritual, which was the spark that kept them together, has been put aside for the challenges and pressures of everyday life.
Carmen (America Ferrera) is the only one in the sisterhood who laments the waning of interest in the traveling pants. But she has her own problems of feeling like an outsider: her mother (Rachel Ticotin) is expecting a new baby and is in the midst of moving. When she discovers none of her friends will be around in the summer, she takes a job working backstage at a theater festival in Vermont. She is surprised when chosen to play a lead role in a Shakespeare drama. She also wins the affection of the leading man (Tom Wisdom).
Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) stays in New York where she has a job at a video store. She has a pregnancy scare in New York City after having sex with her boyfriend, Brian McBrian (Leonardo Nan). All of her insecurities come to the fore as she struggles with her feelings about love and loss.
Bridget (Blake Lively) journeys to Turkey to work on an archaeological dig where her boss, Professor Nasrin Mehani (Shohreh Aghdashloo), counsels her about coming to peace with the past. She gets the message and returns to Alabama to visit her grandmother (Blythe Danner) who holds the key to understanding more about her mother's suicide.
Lena (Alexis Bledel) is studying art at the Rhode Island School of Design. She begins a romantic interlude with a handsome art student and model but finds herself still drawn to Kostos (Michael Rady), her first love. Lena's quest for a soul mate animates Carmen, Tibby, and Bridget to rally around her with a trip to Greece.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 reveals how difficult it is for friends to keep in touch once they begin going their separate ways and pursuing their own interests. Even though the drama is too episodic and quite melodramatic, it puts the concerns and quests of young women front and center in a time when few other movies do.
Special DVD features include "Go Jump Off a Cliff": How the exhilarating final sequence — not originally in the script — was inspired by fan reaction to the first movie; additional scenes; and a gag reel: "On-set Bloopers and Jokes."
