Common Sense Media Review
Brit comedy is more warm and quirky than kinky.
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Kinky Boots
What's the Story?
Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) is a small-town guy desperate to escape his father's stodgy shoe factory for the glamour of London. Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a drag queen constantly on the run from bigoted men and constantly in need of more sturdy footwear. When Charlie's dad dies suddenly, Charlie finds out he's in charge of saving the factory -- but outsourcing of shoe manufacturing has rendered his father's indestructible oxfords unsellable. So Charlie and Lola work together to save the company and produce over-the-knee boots strong enough to hold the weight of an over-six-foot black man. "Price Shoes has built its past on making a range of men's shoes," he says to his staff. "It only makes sense, going forward, for Price to make shoes for a range of men."
Is It Any Good?
Though it doesn't reach Sex and the City heights of shoe obsession, it's still a heartwarming story about how important fashion is in helping feminine people express themselves. Kinky Boots is about shoe-lovers uniting, and a reverence for footwear of all types.
The film could have been a depressing forced march through screeds on bigotry and global trade. But director Julian Jarrold's light touch, and Ejiofor's delicate and sympathetic portrayal of Lola, make it anything but. It's sweet. It's quirky. It has a cheeky sense of humor, and it's imminently watchable.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about gender presentation and discrimination. How are people in your life treated for acting against gender type? Do you make fun of boys for acting feminine or mock girls for being stereotypically masculine? How does Lola deal with it, and how would you deal with it if people ostracized you in a similar way? What examples have you seen in the media of this kind of discrimination?
Movie Details
- In theaters : January 30, 2005
- On DVD or streaming : May 25, 2021
- Cast : Chiwetel Ejiofor , Joel Edgerton , Sarah-Jane Potts
- Director : Julian Jarrold
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Miramax
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 107 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : sexuality
- Last updated : March 14, 2020
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