The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (Blu-ray Disc)

I was lukewarm to 2005's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. While I was more than satisfied with the four young ladies at its core (especially "Ugly Betty" and Real Women Have Curves star America Ferrera), the film itself was a mixed back of turgidly overly familiar melodrama and hackneyed clichés grasping for a reason to even exist.

To say that I absolutely adored the unfortunately titled The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 isn't just a stunning surprise, it's also one of the more wonderful experiences I've had this year. I figured this movie was going to be trash, so to discover it to be both smartly entertaining and unexpectedly heartfelt was definitely a shock.

It starts with the script. Working from the fourth chapter of Ann Brashares' acclaimed series of young adult novels, writer Elizabeth Chandler (who also scripted the 2005 original) does a remarkable job of weaving so many divergent tales of angst, woe, femininity, sexual awakening, familial bonding and human inspiration into one cohesive narrative. While the movie has its share of ham-fisted dialogue and rushed exposition, overall the screenwriter handles her duties with refreshingly subtle flair. This movie is a lot like Chandler's classic take on A Little Princess, her work so honest and genuine past duds like Someone Like You and What a Girl Wants (almost) fade from memory.

Okay, so the picture isn't exactly rocket science, and it isn't exactly startling what is going to happen to the four ladies (Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively) as the strut around the globe looking for direction and purpose in the respective lives. The finale is as predictable as pink high heels on Barbie Doll, and long before the quartet was sitting there soaking up the seaside sun during the finale I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the movie was pure unabashed young adult fantasyland and nothing more.

Yet the film is so well acted by the leads, so solidly directed by Sanaa Hamri (Something New) and so magnificently shot by veteran Jim Denault (Freedom Writers) I really didn't care. The film evokes memories of old Hollywood melodramas like Peyton Place and Imitation of Life, and sitting there at home watching it for a second time I found I couldn't have stopped smiling even if I had tried.

Warner Bros. Blu-ray release of the film looks just fine, but unless you're a high definition fanatic it's not exactly worth spending the extra dollars on. With no special features of note (a featurette on the cliff-diving portion of the film and a mostly unfunny gag reel pretty much covers it) there isn't exactly a lot to crow about, and even though I am completely infatuated with the itself film (it only seems to get better on subsequent viewing) had I purchased this disc over the standard-def one I'd probably have been disappointed.