Can a movie succeed in being both entertaining and inspirational? Possibly, but it can also fail on both counts, as new release Kinky Boots shows. The British comedy, from the writer of Calendar Girls, bills itself as a moving tale about breaking stereotypes and finding your own niche in the world. The actual movie, however, seems only too happy to slip into the niche set by its predecessors, bowing to every cliché and convention available.
Joel Edgerton stars as Charlie Price, reluctant heir to the Price Shoe Factory. Charlie, like so many down-on-their-luck protagonists before him, finds his family business in dire financial straits. Laying off 15 workers does little, and he considers selling the factory. But then Charlie finds a solution to his problems in female impersonator Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), wearer of the eccentric footwear to which the title alludes. After his tiny Northampton factory inexplicably lands a spot at a Milan fashion exhibition, Charlie races to complete a new line of Price transvestite boots in time for the show.
Having set the premise, Kinky Boots finds nowhere interesting or unexpected to go. Will romance develop between Charlie and Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts), his sole - pun intended - supporter at the factory? Will the obnoxious coworkers warm up to Lola? Will Charlie and Lola fall out, only to reconcile as the film draws to a close (no points for guessing which boots-themed song is performed during the movie's climax)? The meager plot twists that do occur come 20 minutes after the viewer predicts them.
The movie fills up the remainder of its time with some sentimental flashbacks and a few poorly sung, lazily directed musical numbers from Lola and her hideously masculine fellow drag queens. It all adds up to an unsatisfying, inconsequential picture that you had best avoid. Grade: C-
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