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Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The
Warner Bros.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 66 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.0 out of 10
based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 33 votes
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MPAA RATING: PG for thematic elements, some sensuality and language

Starring Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Jenna Boyd, Bradley Whitford, Nancy Travis, and Rachel Ticotin

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants brings to the screen Ann Brashares' best-selling novel about one very special summer in the lives of four lifelong friends. (Warner Bros.)


GENRE(S): Adventure  |  Comedy  |  Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Delia Ephron
Elizabeth Chandler
Ann Brashares (novel)
 
DIRECTED BY: Ken Kwapis  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 11, 2005 
Theatrical: June 1, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Premiere Sara Brady
The film succeeds on the strength of the four actresses, first and foremost America Ferrera, who beautifully essays the role of narrator Carmen.
Read Full Review
83
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
It's okay for a grown movie critic to admit she cried freely and with great feeling for more than half the movie, and grinned like a dork through the remainder.
Read Full Review
80
Washington Post Scott Moore
The emotional story and fine acting are enough to make this a must-see movie for teen girls. The real surprise is that they can make a grown man cry.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Always sweet and sometimes surprisingly touching.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
You may not literally laugh or cry, as the ads promise. But you'll have a good time watching the dream-fulfilling denims make their comic-romantic rounds.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
More often then not, the relationships and performances are strong and moving, with an effect both breezy-fun and profound.
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75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim
It may set itself up as a girlie film with "Ya-Ya" mystics (complete with candles and chanting), but sheds that motif for a much more grounded (and satisfying) film.
Read Full Review
75
USA Today Claudia Puig
A junior chick flick. But unlike many of its more mature counterparts, it is emotionally affecting, avoiding the manipulation and formulaic camaraderie that often spoil the genre.
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75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Although targeted primarily for girls in the 12-to-19-year old range, there's enough truth about friendship, love, and life in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to offer solid entertainment to almost anyone who gives it a chance.
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75
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
This is not a great film by any means, too filled with stock characters in stock situations for such praise. But if offers screen time for some fine young actresses, and addresses its story to an audience of teen girls who deserve something to identify with.
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75
Boston Globe Ty Burr
As female-bonding comfort food goes, ''Sisterhood" is that rare meal both adolescent girls and their mothers will be able to agree on.
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75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Though the story may be cut from the same cloth as the female-empowering "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," it's never as cute, cloying or overbearing as that movie eventually became.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Sisterhood is Stand by Me for girls, as sullen, plucky, melodramatic, exuberant, athletic, graceless, crafty, artistic, arrogant, modest, helpless and resourceful as its teenage heroines.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
An argument could be made that too many bad things happen to the good members of this sisterhood. The movie does occasionally teeter on the brink of soap opera, but then, so does life.
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75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
For such a mush-ball teen movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants carries a welcome amount of grown-up emotional truth.
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70
Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Has its share of summery charms, including gorgeous postcard views of Santorini, an old-worldy Romeo-Juliet romance, and some particularly good performances by Tamblyn and Boyd.
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70
New York Magazine Ken Tucker
Fortunately, director Ken Kwapis, who's done a lot of briskly unsentimental TV work with young people--"Malcolm in the Middle," most notably--knows how to avoid mawk, keeps the squawk to a minimum, and gets wonderful performances out of at least two of the sisterhood, "Gilmore Girls'" Alexis Bledel as the modest Lena, and America Ferrera ("Real Women Have Curves") as the stubborn Carmen.
Read Full Review
70
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Despite a few design flaws, "Pants" should wear well with its young female demo.
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70
Variety Dennis Harvey
Mixes satisfying dollops of fun, tears, travel, romance and lesson-learning in a handsome package whose two hours pass faster than many a grownup entertainment.
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70
Village Voice Ed Park
The multiple story lines can feel choppy, but the dialogue has snap, and the pants' powers never distract from the teenagers' emotions.
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70
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Except for one manipulative deathbed scene, Ken Kwapis directs with sensitivity, steering the multiple story lines toward a satisfying conclusion.
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70
The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder
Of these four plots, the story of Carmen's blended family is by far the most consistently engaging, largely because of the vibrant presence of Ms. Ferrera.
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70
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
May not be much more than a story about girlfriends growing up, and it's not going to score any points for edginess, but it's entertaining in a low-key, non-threatening kind of way.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
The easy, fast-talking rapport between the four young women is The Sisterhood’s biggest selling point. Too bad, then, that the premise demands they spend most of the film away from each other.
Read Full Review
63
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The cast brings its by-the-numbers characters alive.
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63
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Working from a deft script by Delia Ephron, director Ken Kwapis labors hard so that guys won't cringe (too much) as four teen girls, of different body types, pass along the same pair of lucky jeans during a summer of love and loss.
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63
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
This is strictly a picture for the target audience, though it seems to hit that target regularly.
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60
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
By the film's halfway point, the subplots have all started to head in the most obvious directions imaginable, which is too bad, since they all have real potential. Ferrera's story of spending the summer as an out-of-place ethnic element in the milk-white suburbs stays interesting the longest, in large part thanks to her performance.
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60
Dallas Observer Melissa Levine
The result is a constant feeling of summary, saddled with four times the usual number of after-school issues. Tamblyn is a treat, playing intelligence and anger, and there are some real moments of connection between characters, but the film is hysterical with self-promotion.
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50
LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
The finale goes on and on, but the movie is nicely photographed (by John Bailey) and duly empowering, and should please the vast teen-girl audience for which it's intended.
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50
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Even while trying to access my inner giggly, dreamy adolescent, I found the movie as irritating as a chigger under the skin. The cast is pretty and inoffensive, with America Ferrera, using charisma and fierce emotions to stand out from the pack.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Angel Cohn
Readers hate to see their favorites messed with by filmmakers, and though devotees will notice changes from Brashares' novel -- some slight and some more substantial -- the film remains true to the book's spirit, and the deviations shouldn't alienate them.
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40
Empire Staff (Not credited)
There are some engaging moments, but director Ken Kwapis fails to achieve a distinctive tone.
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30
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The girls in 'Traveling Pants' are only mannequins wearing someone else's clothes. They don't get inside your head, let alone your heart.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sarah P. gave it a10:
i loved the books, but i was a little skeptical about wastching the movie the first time because the movie is generally never as good as the book, but i must say they did a pretty good job of following the book! its a bit of a tearjerker but id still recomend it to anyone and everyone!

Shelley N. gave it an8:
It was really good and i recomend both the movie and the book to anyone who wants take the offer. Alexis Bedel was great in the movie but its really more of a chick flick.

Sam J. gave it a10:
I have laught, cried of sadness joy, falled in love. It is so beautiful movie I'm waiting the following..2,3...The actresses are very good an dpersonnaly I liked alexis bedel and Amber Tamblyn.

Hannah P. gave it a10:
The movie was the best movie I have seen all year. And trust me I have seen a ton of movies this year.

Stevie O. gave it an8:
I liked the movie alot but liked the books better. I think the movie should have stayed true to the original story to the details. But I though it did a good job of showing the main point of the story.

Susan J. gave it a7:
I did not come into this movie expecting anything and I was pleasantly surprised. The girls had a great chemistry and the movie did a great job of conveying that throughout.

ME ! gave it a3:
The movie really sucked conpared to the book. My advise save some $$$ and go get the book from the library!

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