Full Review

If "Kinky Boots" (Miramax) didn't come with an "inspired by a true story" banner, you'd never buy it. As it is, you'll need to put your disbelief on hold.

Nonetheless, this is a slickly made, well-acted tale set in the central England town of Northampton (England's shoemaking capital) about a stodgy young man named Charlie Price (Australian Joel Edgerton) who, to save his inherited traditional footwear factory from ruin and keep its longtime workers employed, realizes he must cultivate a more profitable niche market.

The idea comes from the level-headed Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts), one of several employees he's had to lay off, but to whom he humbly turns for help.

One rainy night in London he goes to the aid of what he thinks is a woman being mugged, and it turns out to be Simon (the versatile Chiwetel Ejiofor, currently playing a street-savvy New York cop in "Inside Man"), who goes by the name Lola, a female impersonator from a Soho cabaret who can more than take care of himself. Misunderstanding Charlie's intervention, he/she knocks out Charlie with a bash of his heel.

Shortly after, Charlie hatches the scheme that his factory could manufacture boots sturdy enough to be worn by drag performers like Lola, and he enlists the latter's help in designing them, despite opposition from his practical-minded girlfriend, Nicola (Jemima Rooper), who would prefer he sell the factory, and macho factory workers like Don (Nick Frost); it's fairly plain that sympathetic confidante Lauren will be there for Charlie when Nicola bails.

Against his better judgment, Simon agrees to help, and reports to work in male attire. (Ejiofor is quite good here, showing his palpable discomfort in male clothes.) Some of the workers hassle him (and even Charlie reveals revulsion when Simon meets him at a restaurant in full female gear), but somehow they all work together for their common goal, and come up with sleek red boots that emanate the requisite "sex appeal."

Now the question is, can they make a splash at the big shoe fair in Milan?

Director Julian Jarrold's offbeat film (his first feature) is fun but like "Calendar Girls" (also penned by Tim Firth, here with Geoff Dean) is a bit uneven in both its story line and laugh quotient. It certainly fits the mold of British films about ordinary folk whose unsatisfactory lives take unexpected new directions, thereby giving them purpose, and transforming them into better people.

Admirable lessons of tolerance aside, as two men from greatly different worlds find they can work together, the cross-dressing element, needless to say, will not be to every taste, though the film avoids any overt homosexual references.

The film contains a few instances of profane, rough and crude language, sympathetic portrayal of a transvestite character, some vulgar gestures, sensual onstage movements, men almost kissing backstage, and an implied premarital relationship. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.