Pants Bring Us Together

One of my favorite movies is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Having read the book before the movie came out in June of 2005, Ken Kwapis definitely held true enough to the book's version of the story where I enjoyed the movie and felt like the differences were not crucial enough to bother me. This story is about four girls who have been inseparable, even since before they were born. It is a story about their struggle of leaving each other sides for a summer. Through their individual adventures and experiences, they must find how to be individuals and still an intimate part of this unique group at the same time.

This seemingly unsurpassable journey begins with immediately meeting the four girls and finding a pair of jeans. Now, even though each girl is definitely differently shaped, each of the girls looks stunning in this pair of jeans. Who would have though that it was going to take a pair of jeans to keep them together even though they are far away from each other.

Ken Kwapis takes us through this journey with excitement and tears. He even tells people that "Since [Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants] was released, I can't tell you how many conversations I've had about public displays of emotion in general, and crying at the movies in particular. I've received messages from male friends berating me for creating something that brought them to tears. I've received emails from girls who claim they'd never cried at the movies before Pants. And there are many rave reviews that are quite apologetic in tone. Many journalists have a hard time distinguishing between honest emotion and sentiment. I feel certain the audience knows the difference." Even though I enjoyed the film, to hear that many others felt the same way truly speaks to the way that Ken directed the movie.

This movie especially hits all the aspects that Ken Kwapis tends to lean towards in his movies, romantic comedies. He understands his story and the most effective way of telling it. He knows exactly what he is filming and why each scene is there. He has a romance in Greece which he portrays beautifully and a father and daughter being reunited and the struggles a daughter must go through when she finds how her dad has a new family. And just in case that did not hit the spot, he is able to portray a girl who has lost her mom and is yearning for love, and starts to look for it in all the wrong places. Still, there is one more story. The one girl who will be staying at home while everyone else goes on an adventure, goes on an adventure right in her own town. As she befriends a young girl that is dying from leukemia we are able to show a deep friendship that touched everyone's lives.

While keeping all four stories unique, he was able to fit them perfectly together into a wonderful work of art so that all the story transitions are blended together so well, the audience is easily able to follow the story. Because Ken Kwapis knew exactly what he was saying, instead of an audience feeling confused and lost throughout the movie, he had the exact opposite effect. People were so swept up into the movie, that they felt the emotions that each individual in the movie was feeling as well.

Luckily, Ken Kwapis was able to bring an amazing book to life through his creative decisions and over all well though out productino of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.