I was given these preview tickets to Kinky Boots, so my first thought was this must be a bad movie if they had to resort to word-of-mouth. I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie quite entertaining and refreshing. Story is about Charlie Price who was forced to take over the family's traditional shoe business when his father passed away. Turns out the Northampton factory is in danger of going bankrupt because of the intense foreign competition. It didn't help that their shoes are built to last a lifetime. While on a trip to London, he meets sassy cabaret drag queen Lola in a chance encounter, and thus begins his uncertain quest to save the family business by focusing on the niche transvestite/cross-dressing market and producing erotic fetish footwear.The story is in the same vein as Calendar Girls and The Full Monty - straightforward, predictable, yet endearing. What's good about Kinky Boots though are the characters. Chiwetel Ejiofor is just outstanding here with his portrayal as the loud and brassy and sensitive Lola. Joel Edgerton as Charlie Price plays the English stereotype, while Nick Frost is cast as the homophobic cheeky factory worker. (He and Lola had an arm-wrestling match down at the pub, and guess who won?) There's also a nice plot twist near the end of the movie. The night before they were supposed to display their wares on the catwalks of Milan, Charlie and Lola had a big spat. So the next day, no Lola, no dancers. In a last-ditch effort, Charlie pulled down his pants (literally), and did a one-man show with the kinky boots, and failed miserably. Fortunately, Lola arrived just in time with her posse to save the day.
Try to get the soundtrack if you can, the songs performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor at the cabaret and on the catwalk are just great. One trivia I almost forgot: the movie is based on a true story.
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