Did any of you see 2005’s Kinky Boots? Just raise your hands. Still looking. Okaaaay. Well, my hand’s raised, anyway — albeit halfheartedly.
Hey, I love drag movies as much as any straight guy — more than most, in fact, starting with Rocky Horror (and did you ever catch Patrick Stewart in Jeffrey?). But this one didn’t do it for me. Yet according to the IMDB’s WENN News, this failed film, which earned just $1.8 million in the States and a “rotten” tag on rottentomatoes.com, is headed to Broadway. Come on kids, let’s put on a show!
Truth is, it sounds like the biggest White Way movie-to-musical flop since Big went bust. It does not sound like the next Hairspray.
You can still find Kinky Boots, if you must, on DVD from Miramax. Or you can take my word for it and not start saving for tickets to the stage version.
Of course, the stage show could be a big improvement — after all, it can only get better. The film, while good-intentioned, is a labored stab at sensitivity training within a comedy, as an old shoe factory in England teeters on the verge of bankruptcy, but turns the tide when the deceased owner’s fumbling son seizes on the notion of turning it into a maker of zany, kinky footwear for drag queens.
That doesn’t sound like a huge factory-saving market to me, but at least they’re trying something new. And their ringleader is the son’s new friend, Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a drag performer from London.
Only trouble is, Lola can’t decide if he’s gay or not, and his sex life is largely in the closet. What is this, 1957? And the Full Monty elements are so derivative.
Yet somehow, they plan to turn this cliched, predictable and preachy story into a zestful Broadway musical.
Good luck. You’ll need it.
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July 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am
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