Talented cast makes ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2’ agreeable

Note to screenwriters aspiring to write a “chick flick”: Include at least one scene on a Greek island. The use of such a location in “Mamma Mia!” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” confirms the value of such a locale.

“Sisterhood” has only a few scenes in Greece, but they embody a kind of fantasy wish-fulfillment this movie hits every few minutes or so. A sequel to the 2005 hit, “Pants 2” catches us up with the adventures of four girlfriends whose lives go separate ways during college.

They still trade off wearing the same pair of blue jeans — a device that, given the very different sizes/shapes of the actresses involved, qualifies as a rather serious stretch of the imagination, if not the waistline.

In this outing, the girls are certainly all grown up. The movie is barely started when free spirit Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is having sex with boyfriend Brian (Leonardo Nam) and making an alarming discovery in the aftermath.

Bridget (Blake Lively, from TV’s “Gossip Girl”) has gone off to Turkey to work on an archaeological dig. Lena (Alexis Bledel) is abruptly jilted and immerses herself in studies at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Feisty Carmen (America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”) is up in Vermont, planning to work backstage at a Shakespeare festival, when she suddenly finds herself auditioning for a lead role. (Kyle MacLachlan gets some laughs as the festival’s ego-heavy director.)

So the film operates like four separate soap opera story lines, which occasionally cross paths. This seems unwise, since scenes of female bonding are surely the bread and butter of this kind of movie.

Still, even though this is not exactly my kind of picture, I have to say that “Sisterhood” manages its melodrama smoothly, and should please its target audience. Director Sanna Hamri, who did a decent job with the 2006 romance “Something New,” has enough of a thoughtful touch to keep it from becoming ludicrous.

The film also has its four actresses, who are appealing in part because their styles are totally different. Tamblyn (once of the TV show “Joan of Arcadia”) has the kook number down pat, Bledel does deadpan, Ferrera is fiery. If coltish Blake Lively isn’t a big star in the making, it’s a surprise to me. The only real question is how they can afford to pay her for “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3.”