Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
66
(34 sources)
66
(34 sources)
-
100
Premiere
The film succeeds on the strength of the four actresses, first and foremost America Ferrera, who beautifully essays the role of narrator Carmen. Read Full Review » -
83
Entertainment Weekly
It's okay for a grown movie critic to admit she cried freely and with great feeling for more than half the movie, and grinned like a dork through the remainder. Read Full Review » -
80
Washington Post
The emotional story and fine acting are enough to make this a must-see movie for teen girls. The real surprise is that they can make a grown man cry. Read Full Review » -
75
-
75
Christian Science Monitor
You may not literally laugh or cry, as the ads promise. But you'll have a good time watching the dream-fulfilling denims make their comic-romantic rounds. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Tribune
More often then not, the relationships and performances are strong and moving, with an effect both breezy-fun and profound. Read Full Review » -
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It may set itself up as a girlie film with "Ya-Ya" mystics (complete with candles and chanting), but sheds that motif for a much more grounded (and satisfying) film. Read Full Review » -
75
USA Today
A junior chick flick. But unlike many of its more mature counterparts, it is emotionally affecting, avoiding the manipulation and formulaic camaraderie that often spoil the genre. Read Full Review » -
75
ReelViews
Although targeted primarily for girls in the 12-to-19-year old range, there's enough truth about friendship, love, and life in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to offer solid entertainment to almost anyone who gives it a chance. Read Full Review » -
75
Baltimore Sun
This is not a great film by any means, too filled with stock characters in stock situations for such praise. But if offers screen time for some fine young actresses, and addresses its story to an audience of teen girls who deserve something to identify with. Read Full Review » -
75
Boston Globe
As female-bonding comfort food goes, ''Sisterhood" is that rare meal both adolescent girls and their mothers will be able to agree on. Read Full Review » -
75
New York Post
Though the story may be cut from the same cloth as the female-empowering "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," it's never as cute, cloying or overbearing as that movie eventually became. Read Full Review » -
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sisterhood is Stand by Me for girls, as sullen, plucky, melodramatic, exuberant, athletic, graceless, crafty, artistic, arrogant, modest, helpless and resourceful as its teenage heroines. Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Chronicle
An argument could be made that too many bad things happen to the good members of this sisterhood. The movie does occasionally teeter on the brink of soap opera, but then, so does life. Read Full Review » -
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
For such a mush-ball teen movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants carries a welcome amount of grown-up emotional truth. Read Full Review » -
70
Los Angeles Times
Has its share of summery charms, including gorgeous postcard views of Santorini, an old-worldy Romeo-Juliet romance, and some particularly good performances by Tamblyn and Boyd. Read Full Review » -
70
New York Magazine
Fortunately, director Ken Kwapis, who's done a lot of briskly unsentimental TV work with young people--"Malcolm in the Middle," most notably--knows how to avoid mawk, keeps the squawk to a minimum, and gets wonderful performances out of at least two of the sisterhood, "Gilmore Girls'" Alexis Bledel as the modest Lena, and America Ferrera ("Real Women Have Curves") as the stubborn Carmen. Read Full Review » -
70
The Hollywood Reporter
Despite a few design flaws, "Pants" should wear well with its young female demo. Read Full Review » -
70
Variety
Mixes satisfying dollops of fun, tears, travel, romance and lesson-learning in a handsome package whose two hours pass faster than many a grownup entertainment. Read Full Review » -
70
Village Voice
The multiple story lines can feel choppy, but the dialogue has snap, and the pants' powers never distract from the teenagers' emotions. Read Full Review » -
70
Chicago Reader
Except for one manipulative deathbed scene, Ken Kwapis directs with sensitivity, steering the multiple story lines toward a satisfying conclusion. Read Full Review » -
70
The New York Times
Of these four plots, the story of Carmen's blended family is by far the most consistently engaging, largely because of the vibrant presence of Ms. Ferrera. Read Full Review » -
70
Film Threat
May not be much more than a story about girlfriends growing up, and it's not going to score any points for edginess, but it's entertaining in a low-key, non-threatening kind of way. Read Full Review » -
67
Austin Chronicle
The easy, fast-talking rapport between the four young women is The Sisterhood's biggest selling point. Too bad, then, that the premise demands they spend most of the film away from each other. Read Full Review » -
63
-
63
Rolling Stone
Working from a deft script by Delia Ephron, director Ken Kwapis labors hard so that guys won't cringe (too much) as four teen girls, of different body types, pass along the same pair of lucky jeans during a summer of love and loss. Read Full Review » -
63
Charlotte Observer
This is strictly a picture for the target audience, though it seems to hit that target regularly. Read Full Review » -
60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
By the film's halfway point, the subplots have all started to head in the most obvious directions imaginable, which is too bad, since they all have real potential. Ferrera's story of spending the summer as an out-of-place ethnic element in the milk-white suburbs stays interesting the longest, in large part thanks to her performance. Read Full Review » -
60
Dallas Observer
The result is a constant feeling of summary, saddled with four times the usual number of after-school issues. Tamblyn is a treat, playing intelligence and anger, and there are some real moments of connection between characters, but the film is hysterical with self-promotion. Read Full Review » -
50
LA Weekly
The finale goes on and on, but the movie is nicely photographed (by John Bailey) and duly empowering, and should please the vast teen-girl audience for which it's intended. Read Full Review » -
50
New York Daily News
Even while trying to access my inner giggly, dreamy adolescent, I found the movie as irritating as a chigger under the skin. The cast is pretty and inoffensive, with America Ferrera, using charisma and fierce emotions to stand out from the pack. Read Full Review » -
50
TV Guide
Readers hate to see their favorites messed with by filmmakers, and though devotees will notice changes from Brashares' novel -- some slight and some more substantial -- the film remains true to the book's spirit, and the deviations shouldn't alienate them. Read Full Review » -
40
Empire
There are some engaging moments, but director Ken Kwapis fails to achieve a distinctive tone. Read Full Review » -
30
Washington Post
The girls in 'Traveling Pants' are only mannequins wearing someone else's clothes. They don't get inside your head, let alone your heart. Read Full Review »
You Say
click on a star to rate
