The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Warning: An abandonment of realism and a love of hokey fairy-tale fantasies are required before viewing this sugar-coated teen flick. But the news is not all bad: The movie is actually charming, despite its unfortunate viewing prerequisites. A pair of thrift-shop jeans becomes the ultimate fate-finder for four female friends. After a late night break-in to an aerobics room for pregnant women, the girls create a séance-like setting to establish their school-girl rules for their jeans-wearing plan, which includes each teen getting seven days with the denim before sending it to the next otherwise-hopeless friend. Fortunately, that’s just enough time for the insecure priss to meet the arbitrary Greek stud; for the blue-haired punk to surpass her life of stocking tampons at a Wal-Mart clone to film her documentary; for a future Mia Hamm to have her love fling at soccer camp; and for the devoted daughter to deal with her estranged dad’s plan to re-marry. The barebones premise, based on Ann Brashares’ popular young adult series, screams cheesiness, but the actresses’ talents and director Ken Kwapis’ ability to intertwine the different stories will make you want to see this one.