Review of Kinky Boots (2005) by Jesse O — 30 Aug 2015

The Brits are the best at this sort of entertaining fluff that doesn't really go as deep as it could or, in some cases, should. The use of the word fluff might seem like an insult, but I really don't mean it that way honestly.

Because, and there have been some cases, it's usually really rare for me to dislike movies like this. I just think the British just do a better job at presenting this type of film in an entertaining fashion than the Americans do, but that's just me.

Love, Actually comes to mind instantly as something that's super light and fluffy, but it's actually a real good movie on top of that as well. I'm not suggesting that this even comes close to how great Love, Actually was, but the style, not the structure, is certainly similar.

With that out of the way, I will say that this movie is pretty much exactly what you would expect it to be. A transvestite finds himself working in a shoe factory to help keep it afloat for his new friend.

Seeing that the shoe factory itself is in one of those small, simple towns then you can pretty much expect to see some 'fish out of water' stuff, like how they adjust to Lola being a transvestite and how they treat him at first.

You can see where this is going. Respect is earned and people become a little more tolerant to others' differences as opposed to hating them for it. Again, this is a movie that you've seen before, countless times, and you will see again, countless times.

But, as I mentioned, the film more than makes up for it in spirit, energy and an excellent performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor. I mean, this guy is so fucking great. And I don't mean just in this movie, even though he is great here, I just mean in general.

This guy is a fantastic actor and I honestly wish that his character here would've been developed more than he was. It's like they hint at a very difficult childhood and relationship with his father, but they only show bits and pieces of it.

I suppose since it, most likely, would've been a downer when compared to the rest of the film, then they just left it out, to keep the film at a lighter tone. In its place there's the obvious down part of the film where Charlie pushes Lola away due to his Charlie's own personal problems at the time.

Again, just the usual stuff. I just think that the film really wastes an opportunity to tell a deeper and more emotionally resonant arc with Lola/Simon. It might have been cliched and predictable and maybe even sentimental, but it would've offered up some insight into the film's most interesting character.

It is what it is, but I cannot complain about the cast of the film. Chiwetel and Joel are both great, but Chiwetel, clearly, steals the show. That's about it really, I got nothing else to say. It's an easy film to watch, it could have been worse, but I'm not gonna complain because I definitely had a good time watching.

It's not what I would call particularly deep or complex, but it's a good movie nonetheless. Solid Netflix watch, at best.