The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2 - Traveling To Greece On A Budget

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is a 2008 sequel to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The original cast (Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, and Amber Tamblyn) return to star in the movie, which was directed by Sanaa Hamri. The film is based upon the fourth novel in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, but incorporates scenes and storylines from The Second Summer of the Sisterhood and Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. The film was released in the United States on August 6, 2008.

Plot summary

In the summer following their first year of college, we revisit four friends who have been apart all year and plan to spend their summer apart until a magical old pair of pants reunites them. Bridget (Blake Lively) visits her grandmother Greta (Blythe Danner) in Alabama to ask about her mother's suicidal depression. Lena (Alexis Bledel) finds her former flame Kostas (Michael Rady) married in Greece. Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) goes through a pregnancy scare and alienates Carmen. Carmen (America Ferrara) auditions for Perdita in a Vermont acting workshop. When Lena's sister Effie (Lucy Hale) steals and loses the Pants in Greece, the Sisterhood follows.

Plot details

Bridget Vreeland

Bridget finds hidden letters from her grandmother Greta, presently alienated from her father (Ernie Lively, Blake Lively's real father). He says he wanted to protect her, but Bridget angrily retorts that she has been taking care of herself for years. She leaves an archaeological dig from Turkey under Professor Nasrin (Shohreh Aghdashloo) early to visit her grandmother in Alabama.

Her mother, who committed suicide at age 35, used to visit regularly. Greta explains that her mother denied her worsening depression. Bridget's father went along with this, but Greta could not, so she cut ties with both of them.

Bridget worries that she is like her mother and will have the same unhappy life. Greta reassures her that she is stronger than her mother ever was. The conversation brings Bridget and her grandmother closer, and helps Bridget reconcile with her father.

Lena Kaligaris

Lena, in Greece to mourn the loss of Bapi, finds Kostas married, and his wife pregnant. Lena returns to RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and goes out with her life class model, Leo (Jesse Williams), an artist who poses in exchange for studio space.

Kostas comes to see Lena at school after his wife revealed that she was never pregnant, and the marriage was annulled. Lena forgives him, but says they are not the same people. Later with Leo, she realizes some people fall in love only once, and she still cares for Kostas. She then visits Kostas and they reconcile on his boat. They say they still love each other and share a kiss.

Tibby Rollins

Tibby works at a video store in New York while retaking a NYU screenwriting class that requires her to finish her script. She's dating Brian (Leonardo Nam) and sleeps with him, but the condom breaks. Afraid that she might be pregnant, she withdraws from her friends, using her script as an excuse. She breaks up with Brian and gives Lena's younger sister, Effie, permission to date him.

Lena brings Tibby a requested pregnancy test kit, but Tibby gets her period before she takes it. Tibby drives to Vermont, hoping for Carmen's support. After arguing over who ignores the other more, Tibby leaves. She then goes to Brian's house and apologizes.

Carmen Lowell

Carmen goes to an actor workshop in Vermont, prompted by fellow Yale student, Julia (Rachel Nichols). Julia is comfortable in the acting world and friends with the director, Bill (Kyle MacLachlan), while Carmen is uncertain of where she belongs.

Carmen accidentally drops a curtain on classmate Ian (Tom Wisdom) during his audition for The Winter's Tale. After they watch Julia audition for the lead in Perdita, he encourages Carmen to try. Carmen talks about how she connects with Perdita, winning her the part. Julia, in a small part, is clearly jealous, but promises to help Carmen.

Initially uncertain about her acting abilities, Carmen grows more confident when her talent is recognized by the director and the other actors, including Ian, with whom she begins a flirtatious friendship. Julia grows more jealous, and her competition for Ian upsets Carmen.

Carmen believes Ian would prefer to be with Julia, so she declines his offers to practice and falters in rehearsals. Also, feeling her friends ignored her all year, she pushes Tibby away, but reconciles with her after her mother Christina (Rachel Ticotin) goes into labor. Carmen asks Tibby to help after she and her stepfather (Paul Coughlan) cannot get to the hospital in time.

Ian comforts Carmen, who is distressed over missing her mother's labor. Ian prefers Carmen to Julia, who pursues him. Carmen overhears Julia tell director Bill to replace Carmen, but he does not. She performs spectacularly, regains confidence, and kisses Ian after the play. While packing to leave, she finally tells Julia off.

Reconciliation at summer end

After Brian breaks up with Effie because he realizes that he really loves Tibby, Effie steals the Pants, and loses them en route to Greece to visit her grandmother. The Sisterhood disagrees over whether the Pants are worth saving, so Lena travels to Greece first. The other girls follow to help, and convince the reluctant Lena to take back Kostas. Although they do not find the Pants, the summer ends in Greece with a renewal of their mutual commitment to each other.

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Cast

• Amber Tamblyn as Tibby Rollins
• Alexis Bledel as Lena Kaligaris
• America Ferrera as Carmen Lowell
• Blake Lively as Bridget Vreeland
• Leonardo Nam as Brian McBrian
• Michael Rady as Kostas Dounas
• Jesse Williams as Leo
• Tom Wisdom as Ian
• Lucy Kate Hale as Effie Kaligaris
• Rachel Nichols as Julia Beckwith
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Prof. Nasrin Mehani
• Blythe Danner as Greta
• Rachel Ticotin as Christina
• Ernie Lively as Mr. Vreeland
• Kyle MacLachlan as Bill Kerr
• Carly Rose Sonenclar as Katherine Rollins

Production

Principal photography started on the island of Santorini, Greece in Oia and continued in Connecticut. Western Connecticut State University was used for the scenes of Lena at the Rhode Island School of Design campus. Tibby's scenes were filmed in New York City.

Soundtrack and score

1. Rock & Roll - Eric Hutchinson
2. Together - Michelle Branch
3. Sunset Man - James Otto
4. No One's Aware - Jack Savoretti
5. Warm Whispers - Missy Higgins
6. Friday Night - Craig David
7. Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit) - Noisettes
8. 5 times out of 100 - Hot Hot Heat
9. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
10. You Are Mine - Mutemath
11. Strange & Beautiful - Aqualung

• Warner Bros. Records

In addition, Varèse Sarabande released an album of the film's score, composed by Rachel Portman (unlike the film's stars, Cliff Eidelman did not return for the sequel).

1. Sisterhood (3:29)
2. Kostas (:44)
3. Carmen And Ian Rehearse (2:39)
4. Welcome Home (1:07)
5. Bridget (3:20)
6. The Letters (2:43)
7. Lena (4:14)
8. Tibby (4:07)
9. Carmen (3:52)
10. Well Worn Pair Of Pants (1:39)

Reception

According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "The workable chemistry among the four leads combined with the enriching message make for a winning Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2". It has a score of 63% based on 87 reviews. Metacritic scored the film as 63/100, with "generally favorable reviews", based on 26 reviews.

On its opening weekend, the film performed better than its predecessor opening #4 at the box office with $10,678,430. As of November 7, 2008, the film has grossed $44,080,484 worldwide.

DVD release

The DVD and Blu-ray were released in the United States on November 18, 2008. In Australia the movie was released straight to DVD.

Awards

• 2009 - Nominated; Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Romance