Kinky Boots Movie Review:


From the poster and what I had already read about the plot, I was able to make certain assumptions before I saw “Kinky Boots,” the new British comedy from the producers of “Calendar Girls.” I had heard that the story was based – loosely, I imagine – on a real shoe factory in England which, when facing money problems, decided to start producing for a more niche market: transvestites. I assumed what I always assume about British comedies like this: there will be a romantic subplot; there will be a cast of colourful characters, probably including old women who have the dirtiest lines; there will be some story of sadness or loss; there will be moments of doubt, and, of course, there will be a happy ending. As there is a transvestite in the story, I also assumed that there would be a subplot about rejection and acceptance.

After seeing the movie, I discovered that, alas, I was absolutely right. But that the movie is formulaic is not the biggest problem; the real, and surprising, issue with “Kinky Boots” is that it isn’t very funny. At times it is sweet, at times amusing, but, if you’ll excuse my complete lack of objectivity, I only laughed out loud twice. When filmmakers limit themselves to a tired formula, they should try, somewhere along the line, to breathe a little freshness into it.

The movie tells the story of Charlie Price, who has recently inherited his father’s shoe company. On a visit to London, he bumps into Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a transvestite who performs at a Soho club, and when she complains about how women’s shoes are not ideally designed for carrying the weight of a man, Charlie sees this as the solution to his factory’s troubles, and goes immediately into the production of the ‘kinky boots,’ with the help of Lola, who acts as designer.

Charlie’s relationship with his fiancée, meanwhile, is becoming more strained, especially as she realises that their plans for a big house and expensive wedding may have to be scrapped. Indeed, Charlie seems closer to Lauren, a worker at the factory. Could there be something there? Surely not.

At times sweet, and with a few good musical numbers, “Kinky Boots” never-the-less suffers from, for one thing, a lack of risk-taking; it felt far too safe, for a movie about shoes for drag queens. The jokes aren’t very naughty (nor generally very funny), and the romance and acceptance subplots are so unoriginal they could have written themselves. “Calendar Girls” tells a similar story, but with better characters, funnier dialogue, and, frankly, better performances; the only one you will really remember from this movie is Ejiofor’s; he carries both joy and conviction in his role.

I feel somewhat torn about this movie; the little demon in my head is telling me that’s it’s too formulaic, and not funny enough, and ultimately pointless, since “Calendar Girls” is a better version of similar material. The little angel in my head, however, is telling me that the movie is innocent fun and sweet enough to recommend, for Ejiofor’s performance if nothing else. As it happens, I saw the movie just after “Thumbsucker,” a fresh, intelligent and at times very funny comedy, which showed up “Kinky Boots” for lacking in originality and for taking no risks, so I guess I’m going to listen to the little demon, who is telling me that as amusing as the movie is for about 45 minutes, you can have too much of a mediocre thing.

Adam Whyte

Based on a true story, this is a feel-good British comedy from the creators of Calendar Girls. Although a bit squeaky clean for its own good, it's engaging and blessed with a seriously good cast.

Charlie Price (Edgerton) has just moved to London with his girlfriend (Rooper) when his father dies (Pugh). Now he has to return to Northampton to run the family shoe business, but Old World quality isn't as popular as it used to be, and the business is on the brink of bankruptcy. A chance meeting with the colourful drag queen Lola (Ejiofor) changes Charlie's life. And Lola's too, as he designs a new range of outlandish footwear to restore the company fortune. If, that is, the buyers in Milan go for it.

The story has a standard structure, building to the big show in Milan with various relational entanglements along the way. And the script nimbly dances through the story without ever getting heavy handed about it, while nicely avoiding most cliches. The characters are just complex enough that we both believe them and travel with them on this journey. After years of solid work Down Under, Edgerton has been waiting for a big leading man role, and he handles it with charm and personality, nicely balanced by Rooper and Potts (as his assistant). Meanwhile, Ejiofor steals the film with another astonishingly layered, energetic, impeccable performance. Lola is absolutely wonderful--a fascinating mixture of flashy showmanship with an undercurrent of realistic self-doubt.

So it seems strange that the filmmakers strip Lola of any sexuality. Despite constantly talking about how these boots are raw sex, Lola has no romantic life at all, which may make the character more family friendly, but leaves the heart and soul of the film stuck in a corner with no way out. Fortunately there's enough sharp wit in the script and direction to win us over and make us forget about this serious dramatic misstep. The epilogue might be melodramatic and preachy, but it's also thoroughly sigh-inducing. The climactic sequence might be far-fetched, but it's also deeply fabulous.

Rich Cline

After inheriting the family men’s shoe business, Charlie Price (Edgerton) has to come to terms with the factory is struggling. After making a number of redundancies, Charlie still needs to do something to change the fortunes of the business. The answer comes in the shape of Lola (Ejiofor), a Drag Queen with a problem, as she can never find a sexy shoe that will fit her slightly bigger feet properly. Now all that Charlie has to do is change his factory into one that makes Kinky Boots.

There is one thing that the British film industry can do really well and that is produce films that put a comedic twist on an against the odds tale but can ‘Kinky Boots’ match the other successes?

After movies like ‘The Full Monty’, ‘Waking Ned’ and ‘Calendar Girls’, the British film industry seems to get it right most of the time when they bring a real life story to the silver screen. ‘Kinky Boots’ is no different. This is another inspirational story of the workingman who goes against the odds to make things better for not just himself but for his family, workmates and friends. Add to this some comedic moments and you have the perfect recipe for a hit movie in the UK as this is the kind of films that really hit with its homeland audience but while ‘Kinky Boots’ definitely has its heart in the right place it is missing the key ingredient of comedy.

This is a movie that is made to make you feel good and the tale of the ‘Price & Sons’ transformation from an ordinary men’s shoe factory into a maker of thigh length boots for men has all the potential to achieve this but it doesn’t quite have the correct fit. Instead of concentrating on the reaction of the staff at making the ‘new’ shoes for example, the film
descends into jokes and homophobic remarks aimed at Lola/Simon that might have actually happened at the time but don’t really fit the tone of the movie. This comes at the expense of Nick Frost, a gifted comedic actor (see ‘Shaun of the Dead’ or the TV series ‘Spaced’) who has to play it straight and become a character that you shouldn’t really like, wasting his talents.

This minor plot point aside, the rest of the film is a heart-warming tale of success against the odds. At the centre of the movie are two standout performances from the leading actors. Australian Joel Edgerton is starting to make a name for himself in the movie industry and his role as Charlie
Price will only make him more noticed. Stealing the entire film however is an outstanding performance from Britain’s best emerging talents Chiwetel
Ejiofor. As drag queen Lola, he commands your attention throughout, with a multifaceted performance that sees him sing, dance and provide the comedy for the movie. This is a performance that shows that he is a real talent in whatever genre he chooses. Add two this good performances from Sarah-Jane Potts, Jemima Rooper and Linda Bassett and you have a good cast to bring this inspirational story to life.

‘Kinky Boots’ is a feel good movie that works but doesn’t have enough laughs to make it a big hit as ‘The Full Monty’ or ‘Calendar Girls’ but it is still a good way of spending 106 minutes.

Jamie Kelwick

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