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Kinky Boots
Directed by: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Joel Edgerton
Genre:
Comedy
Run Time: 107
min.
Release Date:
April 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
When Charlie Price
inherited his family's shoe factory after the death of his father, he
also inherited a financial mess. Their shoe styles aren't selling with a
market flooded by cheap Taiwan imports.
But one fateful night, Charlie runs into Lola, a drag queen, who jabs an
idea into his head: make women's shoes for men. Specifically, make
footwear for cross-dressers who can't find the appropriate sizes and sex
appeal they require.
The Price Shoe Company quickly gets to work on the idea, encountering
problems with men's weight on women's heels, financial woes, and the
internal conflicts of workers at the factory who aren't very keen on the
idea of creating "sex in a tube," the unofficial term for these new
boots and shoes.
Setting out a plan to display his new shoe styles at the Milan show,
Charlie is forced to mortgage his own home, causing a rift to develop
between him and his fiancé (a rift that grows because of her
manipulative behavior and improprieties).
The fact that this story is based on an actual shoe company is probably
the biggest kick (no pun intended). Picturing a stodgy old English
factory pumping out transgender pumps is quite the image, and KINKY
BOOTS uses it to full advantage; the building they're in is an old
brick-and-mortar behemoth with half-rimmed glasses wearing employees
running sexy red velvet boots through ancient looking machines.
But the biggest success in the film is the acting. Chiwetel Ejiofor (CHILDREN
OF MEN) presents an Oscar-caliber performance as Lola,
the drag queen with a footwear fetish. It's hard to imagine that this is
the same bad-ass who played The Operative in the sci-fi smash SERENITY.
Joel Edgerton plays the lead role of Charlie Price and the painful
decisions he makes are delivered admirably and with angst. The remaining
actors to justice to their respective parts, but one that I have to give
extra praise to is Nick Frost's portrayal of Don, the factory worker who
has to deal with his own prejudices toward Lola's sexual identity. I
loved Frost in SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and his great acting here (especially
during an arm wrestling scene between him and Ejiofor) is highly
notable.
Although the script is rather blase, the acting made this flick very
watchable. If you decide to check out Kinky Boots, make sure you pay
attention to Ejiofor's performance. It'll make you stand up and cheer.
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Image from Kinky Boots
DVD cost: $14.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Tim Firth helped co-write
the screenplay for "Kinky Boots" as well as the previously successful
"Calendar Girls," which also held a story of sexuality at its core.
Movie Quote: "All
this way for my advice? I feel like Oprah."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Kinky Boots
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