You might think a movie about a drag-queen shoe factory would be brazenly original, but Kinky Boots shuffles down a well-trodden path—not that there isn't any pleasure to be had in the well-meaning, albeit familiar, excursion.
The film follows Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton), whose father owns a Northampton shoe factory. When Dad kicks the bucket, Charlie finds himself the reluctant heir to the declining footwear empire and drags his fiancée back to the small town. Since Charlie is awkward in pretty much all situations, he has trouble filling his father's ... well, you know. It doesn't help that the factory is almost bankrupt.
Outside a pub, Charlie stumbles upon a woman under siege. His bumbling rescue results in three realizations: 1.) Lola, the damsel in distress, is actually Simon (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a drag queen; 2.) Lola's stiletto heel was broken in the conflict because women's shoes aren't built to carry a man's weight; and 3.) a line of women's shoes built specifically for men might be just the niche market necessary to save Price Shoes.
Thus, Charlie and Lola team up to produce the titular footwear, directing their workforce of old ladies and blue-collar meatheads to switch from brown and suede to leopard print and patent leather. Meanwhile, Lola gives Northampton some predictable lessons in tolerance.
The messages in the film aren't too heavy-handed, but the audience is definitely told what to think. Obviously, we're to applaud Lola for embracing her own desires rather than doing what everyone expects. But we're supposed to cheer Charlie for embracing what's expected of him, rather than doing what he really desires. And we're supposed to vilify Charlie's fiancée because she has the nerve to pursue her own dreams rather than sticking by her man in a town she hates for a cause she doesn't care about.
The plot doesn't hold up to scrutiny, but then a feel-good movie should never be scrutinized. This one is reliable and comfortable—like a good shoe.