There are only a handful of movies which strike a both the hip and fun chord in me. Kinky Boots can be added to that select list of mine. It's thoroughly fun, and has a good story to tell, beneath the facade of a story inspired by the true event of a Northamptonshire men's shoe factory which takes the plunge into making boots for transvestites.
Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) reluctantly inherits the traditional shoe factory from his father, and discovers that despite the factory being in the red from cheap Eastern European competition with shoes that don't last, his father had continued to keep the factory alive against all odds. He has a choice to make, to take the easy way out to retrench and if necessary, shut it down, or find someway to keep his family legacy alive.
He chances upon drag queen Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor, can't believe he was that mean dude in Serenity), and by chance, the idea of a niche market beings to flesh out. Soon, the two of them strike up a partnership against all odds, including the astonishment amongst the conservative employees of the factory, and with Price risking it all at the home front with his fiancee to pursue the gargantuan task of keeping his factory afloat.
The soundtrack is what breathes life to the movie, and contains an excellent collection of jazzed up oldies. Many of the songs were performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor himself, and many of them will bring a smile to your face. Watch out for that Milan fashion catwalk scene, which I think is a perfect fusion of visuals, music, flair, and it cheekily tugs at your heart too, which you inadvertently get groove along on your seat.
But while it has plenty of fun moments, its moments of seriousness, of being true to yourself, instead of living life in the way others want you to live it, ring home through the glitz. It has the usual relationship tussles between man and woman (hmm), of prejudices, of belief, of respect - earning, keeping, deserving and self. There's this feel good positive vibe throughout the show, despite starting off quite bleakly in its opening scenario.
Chiwetel Ejiofor single handedly steals the show as Lola, with his acidic wit and emotional vulnerability, punctuated with his nuanced performance as a he-she. If Lola is one spunky character, Ejiofor deserves every accolade in making Lola memorable. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets!! And is it just me or does Sarah-Jane Potts hint of a resemblance to Kate Beckinsale?
My list of favourite movies for this year just had a pair of kinky boots walking all over it. Watch this before it disappears from the local cinemas when the barrage of numbing summer movies without much heart continue next week.
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