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Bridget gets good advice from Prof. Mehani (Shohreh Aghdashloo)

Another major strength of this film is the supporting cast. Kyle MacLachan (TV's Desperate Housewives) is quirky and entertaining as the director who gives Carmen the chance to find the leading lady inside herself. Shohreh Aghdashloo (The House of Sand and Fog) once again takes a turn as a wise and authoritative mentor who pushes Bridget to see that we all must come to terms with our past. And Blythe Danner, although not quite as believable as Bridget's thickly accented southern grandmother, enters into what is probably the movie's most painful storyline to help Bridget finally deal with the sorrow and guilt she still feels surrounding her mother's suicide.

Like many romantic comedies, the ending is happy and fairly well tied up. But with enough realistic struggles and life complications in the story, the film rises above the cheese factor and comes across as honest and hopeful. These days, it's hard to find a balance between realism and hope—in the movies, and in the real world around us. Sometimes honest portrayals of life's difficulties can leave us without much hope; other times, the jump from difficulty to resolution is so huge, and the resolution so neat, that it simply isn't believable. But much like the young women in it, SOTP2 almost becomes that friend we know we can go to in times of trouble, who still loves us despite our mistakes, but who will always push us to believe in hope and seek to be the women we are, not at our worst, but at our best. It's also a movie that recognizes our flaws, but tells us we can rise above them—and when we do, what we find will be worth it.

>Talk About It

1. Towards the end of the movie, Carmen says that no one can diminish you but yourself. Do you feel that is true? Do you think that is something that you do to yourself? Discuss.
2. Both Lena and Tibby have trouble trusting in love and/or the people they love. Why do you think they do? Is theirs a common struggle? Do you struggle with it? What do you think it takes to believe in love and/or trust in those who love you?
3. Bridget's story deals with the power of the past, specifically the effects of emotional weight. What effects does the past have on this film's characters? How do they deal with them? Is there anything in your past affecting you negatively? How is it affecting you, and how might you need to deal with it?
4. When discussing Bridget's mother's illness and suicide, Bridget's Grandmother Greta tells Bridget that her mother wouldn't let people in her life unless they pretended she wasn't sick. Bridget's father went along, but Greta did not. Thinking of the situation not only in terms of physical sickness but also in broader spiritual terms, who do you think did the right thing and why? Is one right and one wrong? Or can there be a balance somewhere between the two?

The Family Corner

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is rated PG-13 for mature material and sensuality. There is one implied sex scene, with making out right before and a small amount of bare skin shown afterwards. Afterward, the couple discusses a broken condom, and the subsequent storyline involves a "pregnancy scare." While premarital sex is not shown to be wrong, the story does deal with the reality of physical and emotional consequences and effects that can follow. Another character's storyline involves a nude male model in a figure drawing class. A lot of skin is shown, but only in parts and never fully. In another character's storyline there is discussion of suicide and mental illness.

Photos © Copyright Warner Brothers Pictures

© Elisabeth Leitch subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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