Tagline: How far would you go to save the family business?
From the makers of “Calendar Girls” comes an uplifting British comedy about two outcast dreamers who finally figure out how to stand up for themselves… in thigh-high leather stilettos. Inspired by a surprising true story, Kinky Boots stars Joel Edgerton (“Star Wars: Episode III”) as Charlie Price, the young Englishman who inherits his father’s failing shoe factory and, in a rousing comedic turn, Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Dirty Pretty Things”) as “Lola,” the feisty female impersonator who turns Charlie’s world, and the entire luckless factory, inside out and on its way to the catwalks of Milan.
Charlie Price thinks he has finally escaped the dead-end industrial town of Northampton with his ambitious fiancée Nicola (Jemima Rooper), when his father suddenly passes away, leaving Charlie unexpectedly in charge of the sinking family business in sturdy shoes. Trapped between a world of cheap knock-offs and to-die-for Jimmy Choos, Price & Sons seemingly doesn’t need a manager so much as it needs a savior. With mounting dread, Charlie soon realizes that to even stay afloat he’s going to have to lay off many of his dad’s loyal, life-long employees.
Then, one dark night in Soho, Charlie is literally smacked in the face with an idea that could bring the factory roaring back to life. When Charlie meets tough, tender Lola and her teetering high heels, everything changes. They might come from completely different walks of life, but both men have reached a point where they have nothing left to lose by taking a risk.
Deciding to buck tradition and boring loafers, Charlie sets out to conquer the brave new world of sexy cross-dressing footwear, with Lola as his fashion advisor. But it isn’t just the assembly line that the disarming Lola transforms. As the make-or-break Milan fashion show approaches, everyone in the factory — from the macho Don (Nick Frost “Sean of the Dead”) to the stalwart Mel (Linda Bassett) to Charlie’s “sole” confidante Lauren (Sarah Jane Potts) — finds the unlikely dreams of Lola and Charlie catching fire.
Kinky Boots (2006)
Directed by: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Linda Bassett, Josh Cole, Gwenllian Davies, Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, Jemima Rooper, Joanna Scanlan, Kellie Bright, Mona Hammond
Screenplay by: Geoff Deane, Tim Firth
Production Design by: Alan MacDonald
Cinematography by: Eigil Bryld
Film Editing by: Emma E. Hickox
Costume Design by: Sammy Sheldon
Set Decoration by: Tina Jones
Art Direction by: Philip Elton
Music by: Adrian Johnston
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic material involving sexuality, and for language.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: April 14, 2006
Visits: 41
