I mentioned before that I basically never go to the actual real theater anymore. After all why should I? I’ve got everything I need for a perfectly enjoyable movie theater experience right in my own home. The only thing lacking is the real theater popcorn. I don't care what Orville Redenbucker claims, their microwave stuff, while incredibly good, is not the same as the real theater stuff.
Anyway, all that said, I went to the theater last night. First time in about a year. My husband, who normally hates to watch movies, much less go to one, got it in his head that he wasn’t to go see a movie last night. Naturally I jumped at the chance. Not often I get to enjoy that. For me, it was more of a date night type thing. He picked the movie, not me, since that’s the only way I can get him out. Not a movie I would have picked to watch on my own, but it was a good night out all the same.
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. Whoever decided that this was a good movie to put up for wide release in theaters, much less produce in the first place, needs to reevaluate their criteria.
It’s a movie about four friends, who have been friends right from before birth. During a year of high school, they are to be split apart for the first time for the summer. One is to go visit her grandparents in glorious Greece… another to visit her father somewhere else in the states, one’s going off to soccer camp, and the last, staying home to work at the local department store Walgreen’s. Shortly before they are too all part ways for the summer they find this magical pair of jeans that somehow fits all four of their differing bodies perfectly. Who knew? They form a pact, a sisterhood, about how they will live this summer apart.
The rest of the movie, go figure, follows their summer apart. The four individual story-lines are actually pretty good. Though very very rushed. I felt like I’d missed so much of what I’d like to have seen develop in each of the girls experiences. But with a movie already over 2 hours in length, it just wasn’t going to fit. I can’t help but wonder if maybe it had been three sisters instead if I might have been left feeling more a part of their lives.
And the story-line of those fucking pants. Enough with the pants. It was so incredibly cheesy, so bad that every scene that the girls actually talked about the pants looked incredibly amateurish. Looked like a high school media project. It was pretty bad. I blame the writing and core theme. The actresses weren’t given anything to work with, so I mean, how can you blame them. Especially when you saw how stellar of a job they did in the rest of the scenes, they CAN ACT, draw you in and make you feel for them… so it wasn’t their lack of acting that made these scenes suck… it was the pathetic attempt to draw the four story-lines of the girls together with a pair of fucking pants. It just didn’t work. That being said, it was shot pretty well, and the audio was good. Just re-work the core idea. No biggie.
The big problem with the pants scenes is that it makes the whole movie look amateurish. The fundamental theory behind movie making is to bring the audience into the story, make them forget that they’re watching it. You want to make them feel part of it. There are a number of technical things filmmakers do to achieve this. Things you probably will never notice, that’s the whole point. To make sure you DON’T notice.
The individual story-lines, while a bit rushed, where really good. The girls were excellent at drawing you into the story and making you feel for them. Then SLAM, another fucking pants scene. Those bloody fucking pants kept showing up, and every scene with them was so awkward, half-assed, and most importantly, obvious, that it made you remember you were watching a movie. It really kills the relationship between the viewer and the film. If that whole pants story-line had been dropped altogether it would have been a really good movie. Worthy of the hype and theatrical success. But as it is, the movie is just that, a movie. Nothing to get excited about, nothing to get drawn into, nothing to feel a part of. It lacks relationship with the viewer, the most important thing a movie needs.
All that being said, all the teenaged girls in the audience, and my husband, all seemed to really enjoy it, so maybe I’m just being too critical. After all, the true measure of success of a movie isn’t the praise it wins from critics, nor the awards it wins, it’s the box office and DVD sales dollars. And if it gets those, then I guess it can’t be all bad.
I remember now why I stay home to watch movies though. Those fucking teenage girls in the audience couldn’t shut up. And the door to the theater was a buzz with activity all movie long. You know what, on second thought, I think that’s a sign of weakness in a movie too. Can’t keep the audience’s attention. Hmmm… think about it.
The actresses did wonders, the guys were hot enough, and the individual story lines were pretty good. The attempt to bring it all together into a decent film however, failed. But like I said, my husband liked it. And that’s worth something, so against my better judgement, I’m going to round my rating on this one up to a
out of five.
Good date movie for those that have girly B/Fs, or G/Fs, else wise, rent it. It’s worth the $6.
