The best things you've never seen

By: Beth Clothier

Posted: 6/24/09

Hello, Western. This week in The Best Things You've Never Seen we head back across the pond to the United Kingdom for a look at another independent British film, "Kinky Boots."

Released in 2005 and based on true events, "Kinky Boots" is a slightly unconventional tale of triumph over adversity set in a failing traditional men's footwear factory in Northamptonshire, England. The lead character, Charlie Price, inherits the factory upon the sudden death of his father, who has kept the financial troubles of the plant under wraps.

Feeling obligated to keep his father's business alive, Charlie is forced to make some tough decisions in order to cut costs, including putting some of his own money into the company and firing several employees. In fact, the future looks very bleak for the factory until a chance encounter with a drag queen and her broken boot heel leads Charlie into making sturdier "kinky boots" for the transvestite community. It takes some convincing to get the factory workers to adjust to creating their new product, but of course, in the end, they begin to believe in both Charlie and their new creations.

There are some of the usual plotlines we see in these kinds of films: the prejudices of small-town people, changing how one thinks/feels about certain lifestyle choices, loyalty to the old regime and ways of the factory and an obvious love story, but even with all of these falling into place, the movie is still very much worth watching.

Probably the most recognizable face to American audiences is Nick Frost, who has starred in both "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" with his sometime comedy partner Simon Pegg. However, as with last week's selection, the rest of the cast is excellent, and Chiwetel Ejiofor is nothing less than fabulous, especially while wearing thigh-high red leather boots.