The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (film)

Infobox Film | name = The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants


caption = Movie poster for "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
director = Ken Kwapis
cinematography = John Bailey
producer = Debra Martin Chase
writer = Delia Ephron (screenplay)
Ann Brashares (novel)
starring = Amber Tamblyn
Blake Lively
Alexis Bledel
America Ferrera
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = June 1, 2005
runtime = 119 minutes
language = Greek/English/Spanish
budget = $25 million
imdb_id = 0403508
followed_by = "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" (2008)

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (released in the UK as "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants") is an American film, based on the novel of the same name by Ann Brashares, and released on June 1, 2005 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is rated PG. It was directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Delia Ephron.

The film's production budget was $25 million. At the box office, it brought in a total domestic gross of $39 million. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=travelingpants.htm Box-office numbers from boxofficemojo.com] ] The DVD was released in the United States on October 11, 2005, and features on-camera commentary by Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, and America Ferrera and deleted scenes (discussed by Kwapis).

Tagline: "Laugh. Cry. Share the Pants."

Cast

*America Ferrera - Carmen Lowell
*Amber Tamblyn - Tabitha "Tibby" Tomko-Rollins
*Alexis Bledel Lena Kaligais
*Blake Lively - Bridget Vreeland
*Bradley Whitford- Carmen's father, Albert "Al" Lowell
*Jenna Boyd - Bailey Graffman
*Kyle Schmid - Paul Rodman
*Mike Vogel - Eric Richman
*Michael Rady - Kostas Dounas
*Kristie Marsden - Soccer Pal Olivia
*Emily Tennant - Krista Rodman

Plot synopsis

The movie centers around four teenage girls--Lena Kaligaris, Tabitha "Tibby" Tomko-Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell--who are best friends and have been together all their lives in Bethesda, Maryland, but are about to separate for the summer. Lena is spending the summer in Greece with her grandparents; Tibby is staying at home; Bridget is going to soccer camp; and Carmen is visiting her father in South Carolina. On the eve of their separation, the girls visit a thrift shop and find a pair of pants that magically fits all four of them perfectly, although they have different measurements. The girls decide to share the pants equally among them over the summer as a way of keeping together when they are apart.

Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen part the next day, and the movie focuses on each girls' journey separately.

Lena

One day in Greece, Lena is sitting at the dock, drawing (while wearing the traveling pants) when she accidentally falls in the water, and the leg of the pants gets caught on something. A young man swims over and sets her free, later introducing himself as Kostos, a Greek-American like her. A couple of days later, Lena learns from her grandparents that her family and Kostos' family are sworn enemies stemming from an old family feud. Despite this, Kostos continues to pursue Lena, and the two develop feelings for each other. At first, Lena is afraid to let herself love Kostos, but eventually begins to open up, sharing rides on his motorbike through the town and going out in Kostos's grandfather's boat at midnight, to which her grandparents are oblivious.

The climax of the relationship comes one Saturday night close to the end of the summer, right before Kostos is about to leave town to return to Athens University. Kostos and Lena attend a party, and while they are dancing, Kostos tells Lena that he loves her. Before Lena can answer, Lena's family barges in, angrily pulling Lena away. Lena later confronts her grandfather and asks to go see Kostos before he leaves, to which her grandfather agrees, Lena goes to the dock and calls out to Kostos, who gets off his ship. Kostos and Lena share a passionate kiss, and Lena confesses her love for him.

Tibby

While on the job in Wallman's department store, Tibby hears a loud crashing sound, and finds a young girl who has fainted in the aisle. She frantically calls for help, and the girl is taken away in an ambulance. Later, when Lena from Greece mails the magical Pants to Tibby, they are delivered to the wrong house, and someone comes to Tibby's house to deliver them - coincidentally, Bailey Graffman, the girl who had fainted at Wallman's.

Fascinated by Tibby's movie, or "suckumentary", and her movie making, Bailey becomes Tibby's self-appointed assistant. Tibby is annoyed by this at first, but gradually grows to accept Bailey. She later learns from Bailey's neighbor that Bailey has leukemia.

Bailey eventually goes to the hospital with a bad infection. Tibby avoids the hospital for a while, but eventually visits Bailey, bringing the Traveling Pants. She offers them to Bailey and pleads with her to take them so that they can help her. Bailey responds by saying that the pants have already worked their magic on Bailey by bringing her and Tibby together. After Tibby leaves, Tibby's home receives a phone call, saying that Bailey has passed away.

When Carmen comes back home from South Carolina, Tibby visits her to try and help her with her feelings of being snubbed by her father. Tibby later goes to Bridget's house along with Carmen in order to bring Bridget out of her depression.

Over the course of the movie, Tibby undergoes dramatic changes in outlook due to her time with Bailey.

Bridget

Shortly after arriving at soccer camp in Mexico, Bridget notices one of the coaches, Eric Richman, and inquires about him, to which the surrounding girls respond that flings with the coaches are against the rules. This information does not dissuade Bridget, as she immediately becomes single-minded in achieving what she wants: a relationship with Eric. She flirts with him often--talking to him, showing off for him at soccer games, and more.

When Bridget's turn with the Traveling Pants finally comes, she puts them on that night and walks around outside Eric's cabin, leading him to the beach. The two begin kissing passionately and Bridget loses her virginity. The event leaves Bridget feeling empty and listless, and she remains that way for the rest of her time at soccer camp, as well as part of her time home. She is lifted from her depression by Carmen and Tibby, who come over to cheer her up after a concerned phone call from Lena. The next day, Bridget's dog, Maggie, runs off with the Traveling Pants, and Bridget follows her to get them back, only to run into Eric, who has come to visit on his way home. He apologizes to Bridget for what happened between them, and the two agree to be friends. However, Eric lets her know that she should give him a shot when she is 20. This gives her the closure that she needs.

Carmen

During the summer she goes to her dad's house in South Carolina. On arrival, she is shocked when her dad immediately introduces her to a new family that he is about to marry into; they are blonde WASPs, unlike Carmen who was raised by her Hispanic mother. During her time there her father and her new family neglect her emotionally, driving her to throw a stone through their dining room window, and catch a bus back to Maryland. At home she tells Tibby about her time with her dad, and Tibby convinces her to call her father and finally tell him that she's mad at him. Carmen tells her father and he apologizes, although, as a tearful Carmen tells him, she wishes that that were enough, but it's not. Her summer ends with the four of them returning South where she is an attendant at her father's wedding, where at the reception he makes a public apology for having snubbed her.

Differences between the film and the novel

* In the book, the girls are all sixteen turning. In the movie, the girls begin the summer at seventeen.
* In the book, Bridget lies about her age to the coach, saying that she is already sixteen, but in the movie she actually is sixteen at the time.
* In the book Lena is the oldest, but in the movie Bridget is older.
* In the movie, Carmen stated that they were all born in the same week. In the book, Lena was born a little earlier than every body else, and the rest were born in September.
* The pants are discovered by Carmen in the book when she is shopping with Lena's family, and the girls later try on the Pants in Carmen's bedroom. In the movie, all four girls are out shopping and purchase the pants together after each of them tries the pants on.
* In the movie, Bridget invokes a rule #11. In the books, the 10 original rules stay the same, although Lena privately thinks that there is an unstated rule #11 - you cannot lie while in the pants.

Carmen

* In the movie, Carmen describes herself as 'the writer.' In the book, there is no mention of Carmen having an affinity for writing, although she is an excellent student. However, the prologue and epilogue of the book are written in the first person from Carmen's perspective, while the rest of the book is written in the third person.
* In the book, Carmen travels to South Carolina on a plane. In the movie, she travels by train.
* In the book, Carmen lives in an apartment. In the movie, she lives in a house.
* In the movie, Carmen tells off the woman who fitted her for her bridesmaid dress. In the book, the yelling stayed in her thoughts.
* At her father's wedding in the movie, Carmen serves as a bridesmaid. In the book, she is just there watching.
* In the book, only Carmen attends her father's wedding, while in the movie the four girls go together.
* Carmen develops a closer relationship with her new stepbrother and stepsister in the book than she does in the movie. Carmen and Paul become good friends, and by "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" Krista has begun trying to emulate Carmen.

Bridget

* In the book, Bridget has a twin brother. Bridget does not have a brother in the movie.
* In the book, her mother died when she was eleven years old. In the movie, Bridget's mother seems to have died fairly recently.
* In the book, at camp, Bridget sleeps in a single bed. In the movie, she sleeps on a bunk bed.
* In the book, Bridget's soccer team was named 'Los Tacos'. In the movie, her team referred to the color red.
* In the book, Eric's hair is dark and wavy. In the movie, his hair is blonde.
* The aftermath of Bridget's one-night stand with Eric differs significantly from the book. In the movie, he goes to Maryland to apologize to Bridget. In the book, it is left unclear as to whether Bridget has sex with Eric. In the third book it is established that they did in fact have sex the first summer. Bridget is hurt and falls into a state of depression evident in the second book. Eric and Bridget do not reconcile until the end of the third book.
* In the movie, Lena finds Bridget's letter about Eric under her bed and sends Tibby and Carmen to comfort Bridget at her home in Maryland. In the book, Lena changes her flight home from Greece goes to meet Bridget at her soccer camp in Mexico.

Tibby

* A babysitter named Loretta looks after Tibby's two siblings, Katherine and Nicky, in the book. The task is left to Tibby in the movie.
* In the movie, Tibby has no love interests. In the book, she has a crush on a boy named Tucker Rowe, but Bailey convinces her that Brian McBrian would be a more worthwhile boyfriend.
* In the book, Bailey faints in the same aisle where Tibby is working at. In the movie, it takes Tibby a while to find what caused the crash.
* In the book, Bailey faints near deodorant. In the movie, she faints near plastic garden chairs.
* In the movie, their second encounter is when Bailey comes to Tibby's house to give her the pants that were mistakenly delivered to Bailey's. There is no such mix-up in the book. Instead Tibby goes to Bailey's house in order to return the wallet Bailey dropped at Wallman's.
* In the book, Tibby's Wallman's smock is green. In the movie, her smock is red.
* After Bailey is hospitalized in the book, Tibby visits her several times. In the movie, Bailey dies shortly after Tibby's first visit to her.
* In the movie, Tibby later finds the video that Bailey had made in secret. In the book, Tibby and Bailey made the video together.
* In the movie, Tibby begs Bailey to wear the pants but in the book Bailey convinces Tibby to let her wear them for the video about her.

Lena

* In the book, Lena has a younger sister named Effie. Effie is not seen or mentioned in the movie at all.
* Lena called her grandmother by her first name, 'Valia', in the book. In the movie, she called her 'Yia Yia'. She also called her grandfather 'Papou', when in the book, he is called Bapi. (Yia Yia and Papou actually mean grandmother and grandfather in Greek.)
* Lena grows very close to her grandfather in the book due to their similar dispositions. In the movie, they are not significantly close.
* In the movie, Lena almost drowns in the ocean. In the book, that is not mentioned.
* In the movie, Lena goes swimming in the ocean with only her bra and underwear on. In the book, she goes swimming in an olive grove with absolutely nothing on.
* The movie makes major changes to Lena's relationship with Kostos. In the book, Lena's grandparents are very close to Kostos's family and consider him to be practically their own grandson. Much to Lena's embarrassment, her grandmother repeatedly tries to set her up with Kostos. In the movie, Lena's grandparents hate Kostos's grandparents.
* In the book, Lena and Kostos first meet at a party at Lena's grandparents' house. In the movie, Kostos meets Lena when he saves her from drowning.
* The conflict between Lena's grandparents and Kostos in the book arises because Lena mistakenly believed Kostos spied on her while she was skinny dipping. She is so upset about this incident that her grandparents further assume that Kostos must have sexually assaulted her. In the movie, the family feud is partially resolved when Lena confesses her feelings for Kostos to her grandparents. In the book, the conflict is resolved when Lena explains that Kostos did not attack her.
* In the movie, Lena and Kostos date for much of the summer, but in the book they only become a couple just before Lena returns to the US.
* In the book, Lena's eyes are described as being "celery-colored". Actress Alexis Bledel's eyes are blue.

Sequel

All four actresses have signed on for the sequel and filming started June 2007. The movie, entitled "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" was released on August 6, 2008. The movie is said to be based on a mixture of the second, third and fourth books in the "Traveling Pants" series, while the time is apparently of "Girls in Pants", i.e. after high school graduation before the girls leave for college. It is rated PG-13 for mature material and sensuality.

TV airings

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" made its TV premiere on ABC Family on Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 7PM/6C. Its sister station, Disney Channel, originally made its premiere on Friday, February 8, 2008, but was preempted. It is one of the two non-Disney related films that have been preempted by Disney Channel before it even premiered, the other being "Little Secrets". But in a seminar held on July 11, 2008, it was announced that Disney Channel will start airing "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". Once it becomes official in the U.S. by the end of 2008, it will be the first Disney Channel appearances of Amber Tamblyn and Blake Lively. It will also be Alexis Bledel's first Disney Channel appearance in 5 years.

See also

*"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" — the novel.
*"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" — the series.
*"Ann Brashares"
*"Lena Kaligaris"
*"Bridget Vreeland"
*"Carmen Lowell"
*"Tibby Rollins"

References

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: the Third Summer of the Sisterhood-- Ann Brashares

External links

* [http://sisterhoodofthetravelingpants.warnerbros.com/ Film official site]
*imdb title|id=0403508|title=The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
*rotten-tomatoes|id=sisterhood_of_the_traveling_pants|title=The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants