MM Film Blog

The young adult novel by Ann Brashares is beautifully adapted to the silver screen. Amber Tamblyn (daughter of Russ Tamblyn), Alexis Bledel (The Gilmore Girls), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), and Blake Lively (yes, that's her birth name) portray the four teens who share a pair of pants and much more in this delightful coming of age story. Friends since birth (when their mothers met in an aerobic class for pregnant mothers), the girls happen upon a magical pair of jeans that fits each one of them perfectly, despite their varying sizes. About to be split apart for the summer for the first time, they vow to take turns wearing the pants, each for one week. The girls expect great things to occur while wearing these magical pants. However, at first they seem to get the opposite results. Or do they?

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The real magic of this film is the wonderful chemistry between the four young actresses, who evidently became good friends off screen as well as on. Despite the fact that this film is for the most part telling 4 separate stories, and that the main characters are only together at the beginning and end of the film, the film still manages to portray the feeling of the togetherness and closeness of these four friends. What could have been a very disjointed set of stories becomes an intricately woven tapestry. This is due in part to the writing -- the base material as well as the screenplay by Delia Ephron (sister of Nora Ephron) and Elizabeth Chandler. Credit also goes to director Ken Kwapis and film editor Kathryn Himoff for maintaining the continuity of the film through clever scene transitions and voiceovers of letters between the friends.

But most of the credit should go to the solid performances given by all four young actresses, who carry the film. They are all delightful in their individual sequences. But when they are together, the film shines! They are thoroughly convincing as 4 teenage girls giggling and screaming and crying and talking all at once, sharing the pain and joy of each other's lives.

The film also goes a little deeper than one would expect for a story about teenagers, which could have been very superficial. The subtle back theme is that even when it seems that everything is falling apart, things have a way of working out, though not always in ways that you would expect.

Also not to be overlooked is the breathtaking cinematography (by John Bailey) of Santorini, Greece (one of my favorite places). Though the location sequences are beautiful, the scenes of Bethesda, Marlyand were filmed in Vancouver (and look nothing like Bethesda). But that's a minor point in a film where so much is done well. Also, the soundtrack complements the film quite nicely.

Overall the film is just plain fun and enjoyable! And though I have not read the novel, I got the feeling that the film is quite true to the original material. It inspired me to get the book and read it. And in my opinion, a solid adaptation to film from a successful book is quite an accomplishment!

MM Rating - * * * * *