483. Kinky Boots (2005)

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Joel Edgerton, Sarah-Jane Potts

Director: Julian Jarrold

Running Time: 107 mins

Kinky Boots is a British film, based on a true story, about a Northampton shoe factory, inherited by a young entrepreneur, which finds a new, niche market in footwear for drag queens, in order to save itself from bankruptcy.

This film is both a very interesting story, as well as an enjoyable and fun viewing experience. Full of intriguing characters, tension, and good comedy, this film is surprisingly dramatic to watch, as well as being funny, however it does just go on a little too long.

Firstly, the comedy in this film is really good. From the start, it throws you into an enjoyable and topsy-turvy world, with both hilarious jokes and mishaps being hurled at you every second, which makes it quickly engaging and entertaining to watch.

However, you do get some degree of drama at the start too. With the death of the former owner of the family business just after the future heir moves away to start his own life, you get a real sense of chaos and sadness in the story, which makes it even more intriguing to watch.

One of the most intriguing parts of this film is the focus, not only around the man coping with holding onto and saving his family’s historic business, but on the drag queen, Lola (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), and the huge impact he has on the whole film.

Ejiofor’s performance of Lola is actually so good that you really see the character as a cross-dresser who’s comfortable in whatever skin or personality he’s wearing, and that’s why I’m writing it like the either/or option, because the character really is a convincing representation of a person in that situation.

However, what’s also fascinating about Lola is how much of an effect he has on every scene he steps into. You’ve got the sexist worker, played by Nick Frost, in opposition to Lola, which really creates tension in all of his scenes, making the film a lot more exciting, while also revealing a fascinating theme about how cross-dressers and transvestites are received in society nowadays.

Away from the more complex and interesting side of things, there is one major downside to this film. After the comedy-packed opening, the fun element really runs out of steam about half an hour in, and although it remains interesting with Lola in the mix, when he’s pulled out of it, it does feel somewhat like a mediocre comedy-drama, that’s barely that entertaining to watch for the last 20 minutes or so, and because of that, I’ll give this a 7.4.