If you've read this, you know what kind of a place I was in as I viewed this movie. Very BFFish. So I think that really helped my opinion of it.. It was better than I thought it was going to be. I saw the first one forever ago when it first came out on DVD. I enjoyed it, it was just a little too cute for my taste. So I expected much the same going into this one. And it was. Much the same. But this time it felt a little deeper, a little more grown up to me. I don't remember a lot about the first one, but it seemed like it was more about true friends and first crushes and such. This one took on more adult topics like pregnancy and mental illness.
Once again, it follows the four friends on their separate journeys through life as they spread out around the world. They continue to pass the magic jeans (that miraculously fits them all) between them every two weeks, although this time not all the friends take the "magic" so seriously. The different storylines can get confusing, especially since the screenwriters seemed to think the 1st movie would still be fresh in our minds. Two funerals right from the get-go still leave me wondering who died. The one relationship I remembered from the original was never mentioned in the sequel, while another carried over but had me wondering who the heck he was. (Until my viewing buddy graciously reminded me who he was from the first one.) I thought I was confused because I didn't remember the first one all that much, but my friend, who had read all the books, was even more confused because apparently they decided to squish all three sequels into this one movie. Yeah, confusing.
But still entertaining. Alexis Bledel (Lena), is going to art school and nursing a broken heart, which she attempts to do in the arms of a hunky nude model. (That was kind of weird.) Blake Lively, as Bridget, takes off on an archeology dig (so...is she a soccer player or an archaeologist?) and ends up digging up her painful past. Amber Tamblyn, back as the kooky Tibby, is falling in love and scared, especially once she decides to take things to the next level in her relationship. (This storyline, which involves a pregnancy scare, didn't bother me or my three adult friends, but when I thought about all the 7th graders out there sure to watch this flick, I was a tad disturbed.) And America Ferrera, as Carmen, is worth watching the movie for alone. She is by far my favorite of the four, so real, so down to earth. (And can I just say how refreshing it is to see her up there, in all her 5'1", full-figured glory, with all those taller, skinny actresses?) Her character is off to Vermont to work backstage on a play but ends up closer to the front of the stage and falling for her leading man.
With the exception of maybe one, the different storylines kept me interested, even as they bounced back and forth. The part that seemed out of place to me, ironically enough, was the pants themselves. They were such a minimal part of the plot, thrown in here and there to remind us what the movie is supposed to be about, and every time it showed them, it was like, huh? Oh, right, pants. Even the characters themselves seemed ready to ditch the pants. (I think maybe they realized they weren't 13 anymore.) You'd think this would make me appreciate the way it ended, but instead it felt wrong somehow.
When watching a movie about friendships based on magic jeans, this is the type of stuff I log away for my review:
~ The hair. I loved that most of the girls' hair was not perfect. In fact, "sloppy" seemed to be the theme when it came to the coifs, but I thought "natural." I loved it.
~ The clothes. I loved seeing all the different outfits and how they matched the girls' personalities. From Lena's perfectly put-together ensembles, to Bridget's sporty cas, to Carmen's laid-back basics, to Tibby's outrageous numbers, wardrobe must have had a ton of fun on this one.
~ The locations. Greece, Vermont, New York, Alabama, Turkey...the wannabe world-traveller inside me was definitely visually stimulated.
~ The quotes. My personal favorite: "How do you say 'lost pants' in Greek?"
"Greek girls do not lose their pants!!"
Bottom line: Fun chick flick to watch with friends. Try the kettle corn at Fairchild. It's yummy.
8 comments:
I agree with everything you said about the movie!! Especially the hair-I probably leaned over to Kim 2-3 times saying how much I loved Blake's hair. And I also enjoyed their different styles. All kinds of people can be friends.
I thought the beginning was a little confusing, I couldn't decide if the little flashes were from the first summer, or a summer there wasn't actually a movie about...you know between the first movie and this one..if that makes sense. But all in all I was entertained, and I know I will continue to watch them if they make more. Oh, too bad Lena's little sis was a word I dare not say on your blog! The hair of of Lena and B were as usual beautiful, and don't we all wish we could look that good in boots, short khaki shorts and a white shirt? I'm just sayin...Anyway, glad you liked it, so did I.
Rachael, that's so funny because the whole time I was watching Bridget I just kept thinking...if only...So jealous. And yeah, hated the sister. Weird thing--the whole movie I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I'd seen her before. I came home and imdb'd her and didn't recognize one thing she'd been in, but her name was even so familiar. Then, at the very bottom of the list, I saw that she was one of the American Juniors (you know, the kid version of American Idol they had that one year that was so lame?) I couldn't believe it.
The story line doesn't sound like it's any part of the second book..... maybe they just turned 3 into 2?
Sounds like it would be so fun to go and see. Thanks for the review.
Heather, as a book reader of the whole series, I was totally confused the entire movie. I was like, wait...that didn't happen until the fourth book...wait, I swear that didn't happen during that time...so confused. Finally, I figured it out...they just combined the last three books, cut out a WHOLE lot and made a second movie out of the last three books. Weird. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't stop thinking about seeing it from someone's point of view that hadn't read the books. They'd be totally lost and wouldn't understand the love stories AT ALL. And you would totally hate the little sister if you just knew her through this movie and not through all the books. This movie was definitely made for the book readers, I recommend reading the books before you go see it. That said, I loved the books, but I wouldn't love it if my 12-17 year old daughter was reading them. They're a little racy for that age. But I loved them. Alicia's right about how the pants are sort of an after-thought in this movie. Again, it makes sense if you've read the books, but not if you haven't. I can't wait to go see it again knowing that it's a combination of the books, so I can just sit back and enjoy it instead of trying to figure it out the whole time. Okay, done. :-)
I really want to see this movie. I read the books and really liked them. I'm glad that I read this though. Now I know they condensed the last 3 books in one movie.
First of all....I adore Alexis Bledel...I even named Lorelai after her character in Gilmore Girls...but you probably already knew that.
Also, Amber Tamblyn is something like my 3rd cousin. I have never met her though. I think Amber's grandfather was cousins with my grandpa...something like that...you know how families are, they get big and confusing. She is one of my FEW distant relatives, you would think that I would know that exact connection...but I am sad to say that I don't....hmmm...now you have me wondering...time to call my mom and ask.
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