Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Charles Price (Joel Edgerton) learned the family men's shoe business from his father in the four generations Northampton business. Charles and his girlfriend Nicola (Jemima Rooper) are moving to London when his father passes away. He is forced to take over and discovers the business is going under. On one drunken night, he tries to come to the rescue of drag queen Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He rehires worker Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts) and takes on Lola as a designer for a new line of shoes for cross-dressing men. Workers like Don (Nick Frost) are bitter about the new work and their new co-worker Lola.Chiwetel Ejiofor is wonderful. Joel Edgerton is a bit too bland. I would rather have him be a conservative guy rather than a middle of the road character. Everybody is solid. The movie seems to be ginning up some conservative backlash in the workers. It feels out of date. The money issue would be the more compelling drama. This is a functional feel-good movie with a couple of great heart-warming moments.

KINKY BOOTS has become a Broadway sensation in 2013 with music and lyrics from Cyndi Lauper, while this original film is equally brilliant with a broad message of self-affirmation. Directed by Julian Jarrold (BECOMING JANE 2007, 7/10), it is another old-fashioned uplifting adult fairytale from UK, such as CALENDAR GIRLS (2003, 7/10), and THE FULL MONTY (1997), both exploit on the prudish nudity, but this film, based on a true event, is about a shoe factory owner Charlie (Edgerton) saves his family business by finding a niche market to design kinky boots for drag queens, with the help of a black transvestite Lola (Ejiofor), the story itself sounds outlandish, but the film is a thorough bliss to watch. Chiwetel Ejiofor is my current BEST ACTOR winner in 2013 for 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2013, 9/10), and this is another spectacular performance in his résumé, his boxer physique and deep voice do not deter his transformation into Lola, a flamboyant cabaret singer, covered with heavy make-up and kitschy costume, but Ejiofor siphons Lola's vulnerability and sensitivity perfectly on the screen out of her ostentatious stage flair, which gives enormous warmth to keep the film afloat, in spite of many standard clichés about provincial prejudice towards the trans-gender minority and a bitch-faced girlfriend who will ultimately cheat on our protagonist. Edgerton's Charlie, is a traditional guy, craves for a normal family life and worries about that he could not live up to his father's expectation, his self-affirmation remedy is inspired by Lola but the film doesn't shy away from his own bias as well although the over-heightened drama between him and Lola does merely serve as a plot device rather than a sincere catharsis. Nick Frost and Linda Bassett play two among several working-class laborers in the factory, the former is basically for comic relief and the latter is devised to express her feistiness occasionally. Potts' Lauren is the good gal always standing behind the man's back and Rooper's Nicola is the unsupportive girlfriend with a uncomely bob hairdo.Narrative aside, the musical rendition from Lola steals the limelight every time, Ejiofor's voice is a bit too blunt and in lack of variety, but his diva aura is second to none. Cleverly and intentionally, Jarrold blurs the line of Lola's sexuality, we are in the era of non- discrimination of one's sexuality, so it doesn't matter in any rate, the film is a fairly accomplished musical, balanced with both drama and comedy elements, it is also a small picture with a big heart, terrifically accessible to audience, neither cringing-worthy nor patronizing, this alone, is worth the good words-of-mouth and a two-thumbs-up.

This is another one of those quirky working-class character-based comedies that the Brits seem to specialize in (ala the Full Monty) and it's a pretty good one. With drag queens.I thought it was particularly well cast with the two main leads (Edgerton and, particularly, Ejiofor) who do a tremendous job bringing these characters to life. Ejiofor's portrayal of Lola/Simon is quite clearly the big draw here. It's a rich part and he plays it for all it's worth.Other than the sharply-drawn characters you have the standard culture-clash stuff, can-do industrial spirit and lite romantic comedy. It's certainly a formula picture and the veteran movie-goer will be able to see all of the story beats coming. A little more ramped-up Lola-energy would have been appreciated to shake things up. Sex may be in the heel, but there really isn't any of it in the movie. And there's a forced conflict towards the end for the sake of dramatic tension but it's completely unconvincing.Still, I'm a sucker for misfit characters and inspirational stories of reinvention so I'll give it a pass on the faults. I also now feel very self-conscious that none of my footwear is equipped with whip holsters--a lapse that will soon be rectified, I assure you.Recommended for fans of Brit comedies and/or drag queens. You know who you are.

The plot was quite predictable, as other reviews have also stated, but I still found the movie extremely entertaining. The humor was what charmed me. It was not the mean kind of humor where you are supposed to laugh because people are acting like idiots or caught in overly embarrassing situations. This movie contained humor that was warm and happy and presented so that it won't make fun of any single group of people. My opinion is that this kind of humor is hard to come up with but gives the most satisfactory laughs.The acting was OK, as was the musical score and whatnot other technical bits there are in a movie, nothing to complain in those. I also liked the sets such as the shoe factory that is in a central part in the movie and its plot. The length of the movie was OK also - not too long nor too short. One could say that the movie tries to make people more understanding towards each other and point out how there is intolerance in the world but this message isn't brought to your face so that it would prevent you from having a good time.Women will probably get the most out of this movie (shoes, dozens of shoes!) but I can't see any reason for men to enjoy watching this also (as I did).