Film adaptations of popular stage musicals are nothing new. Believe it or not, before Marvel ruled the theaters, these adaptations reigned supreme at the box office. Back in 1964 My Fair Lady, which was adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, grossed over 600 million dollars (adjusted for inflation). A year later, The Sound of Music was released, and Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp children grossed over a billion dollars (again, adjusted for inflation). Then there’s West Side Story and Grease, and the more recent Chicago and Mamma Mia! And while the salad days of musical adaptations might have come and gone, the greatness of these movies hasn’t lessened with time (even if their presence in the box office standings has). Kinky Boots (2005), adapted from the stage musical of the same name and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joel Edgerton, loses most of the music (besides a few drag numbers by Ejiofor) in translation from stage to screen, but keeps the magic of the original production alive.
Based on true events, Kinky Boots is the story of Charlie (Joel Edgerton), who inherits the small-town shoe factory that his family has run for generations. When it’s revealed that the recently deceased owner (Charlie’s father) was hiding the fact that many of the factory’s customers had begun canceling their orders, the factory faces the threat of closure. In steps a new “consultant”, Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), with a plan to save the factory—by “pivoting” from men’s brogues to sexy, high-heeled boots for drag queens.
Undoubtedly, the strength of the movie lies in Ejiofor, who, as Lola, represents both the people of the factory’s savior and the lens through which they see (for the first time) a life outside of their small town. He is both a challenging presence and a caring one, possessing infinite patience. Despite Ejiofor‘s Oscar nomination for the brilliant performance he gave in 12 Years a Slave, he still never seems to quite get the credit he deserves; maybe that’s because his list of screen credits reads more like those of a character actor than a leading man.
And then there’s Joel Edgerton, whose “everyman” appearance allows him to blend into a character as well as any actor working today. Like Ejiofor, he has shown amazing range over the course of his career, playing everything from Luke’s uncle, Owen Lars, in Star Wars, to Paul in the terrifying A24 horror film It Comes at Night. And here, as the small-town factory owner with a heart of gold, he doesn’t disappoint.
Kinky Boots was released in 2002, but it feels more recent than that. It’s a sex-positive, “wave-your-own-flag” comedy that’s SFW enough that it wouldn’t feel out of place as family-friendly fare. Like the workers in the shoe factory, audiences who might never have considered the people and themes brought up by Kinky Boots might feel challenged by the aperture of their world widening a bit, but not threateningly so. Add to that the sub-theme of shifting (read: down-turning) economics, and how that affects the lower and middle classes, and Kinky Boots feels more prescient than ever.
The one unfortunate loss in the transition from stage to screen is the musical numbers, but Lola’s drag performances come to the rescue—once quite literally, in a climactic song and dance number down the catwalk in Milan.
Film adaptations of stage musicals might not be the box-office draws they once were, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great, modern movies that are “must-sees.” Kinky Boots, on the backs of standout performances by Ejiofor and Edgerton and with its warm mix of comedy and heart, is one of those movies. It might be over fifteen years old, but it feels especially relevant today.
Watch Now: Kinky Boots, streaming on Fandor through the end of July!
