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'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' symbolizes teens' bond

As sisterhoods go, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" has a lot more going for it than the terminally lame "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

Based on Ann Brashares' popular young-adult novel (she's since written two sequels), the movie is about how four best friends spent their summer vacations before senior year in high school. And how each one's summer was made memorable thanks to a shared pair of jeans.

Warner Bros. Pictures 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' B- The verdict: A fine mother-daughter choice. Or father-daughter. Director: Ken Kwapis Starring: Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively, America Ferrera Run time: 121 minutes Release date: June 1, 2005 Rating: PG for thematic elements, some sensuality and language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Ah, yes. Those pants. Shopping at a vintage store, the girls discover a faded pair of jeans that magically fits them all. The long, the short and the tall. Even the weight-challenged. So they make a pact: They will share the jeans over the summer, each one keeping the garment for a week, then FedEx-ing it to the next name on the list.

The jeans go to Greece with shy Lena (Alexis Bledel of "Gilmore Girls") to visit her grandparents. To Mexico with self-confident Bridget (Blake Lively from "Sandman") to attend soccer camp. To South Carolina with the tender-hearted Carmen (America Ferrera from "Real Women Have Curves") to see her father, who divorced her mom years ago. And, finally, the pants stay home with the group's resident cynic, Tibby ("Joan of Arcadia's" Amber Tamblyn), as she takes an unglamorous job in a Wal-Mart-like superstore and plans to make a "suckumentary" about the losers who frequent the place.

One especially nice thing about the picture is that, unlike too many other gal-pal movies, everybody's story isn't about finding a boy. Lena and Bridget's segments incorporate some of that, but they're also about the girls discovering who they are. Tibby's summer brings her a sad lesson in the unfairness of life via a precocious 12-year-old played by Kyra Sedgwick look-alike and Dakota Fanning-threat Jenna Boyd. And Carmen learns some things about flawed families who can't always meet your fantasies.

All the young actresses are strong, with Ferrera getting the best emotional scene, Bledel getting the best locations (the Greek Islands), Tamblyn getting the best dialogue and Lively getting the best hair and outfits.

"Pants" isn't a breakthrough movie, and its parts are ultimately more than its whole. Still, anyone looking for a solid, unpretentious, entertaining film with some important messages could do a lot worse than this saga of girls gone wise.