Traveling Pants Fits Its Audience

The continuing story of four friends who share a tight bond and comfortable jeans, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is nothing “revolutionary,” critics agree. But it has something to offer for “tweens and teens,” they note. The film is “the equivalent of being patted on the shoulder by a high school guidance counselor and assured you are doing just fine,” writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times.

“Just like the jeans,” the movie “suits the needs of vastly different girls” who will “find their own experiences reflected onscreen,” writes Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News. But while she calls the flick “an unabashed fantasy,” Jessica Reaves, writing in the Chicago Tribune, insists it’s “a largely realistic iteration of evolving, empowering female friendships.” Reaves calls the film “a smart, confident second act.” (More film stories.)