“The first thing you notice about a person is their shoes” – and never a truer word spoken. Particularly if you’re a six-foot, black drag queen. The point is not lost on Charlie (Edgerton) who has recently inherited his father’s shoe factory, along with the crippling debt that threatens to push everyone on to the street. Now if this sounds like a set up for The Full Monty 2 or some variant on The Crying Game, you’d not be far wrong. Kinky Boots is from the ‘it’s grim up north but aye we’re tuff-uns’ sub-genre of British cinema. There’s a formula and director Julian Jarold doesn’t stray far from it. Fortunately, his story is inspired by ‘true events’, so he doesn’t have to. A chance encounter with Lola (Ejiofor) gives Charlie hope: design a woman’s shoe for men and corner the tranny-market. Her flare, his determination and international success is only a month away. A pity that Charlie’s wife doesn’t see it the same way.

What Kinky Boots lacks in originality – and only our mothers would find this unfamiliar territory – it makes up for with a genuine sense of pathos and comic timing. In Lola, Ejiofor has created a rival for Priscilla’s Ralph whose sharp tongue and soft underbelly makes her as intimidating as he is endearing. As a Charlie from Northampton, Edgerton is utterly credible; phased, uncertain yet driven by the desire to do the right thing. Together they bring the story to life. While a little tightening of the laces would help, the Milanese show-stopper of an ending brings it all home. In short, Kinky Boots is made for walking and that’s just what it does.

// COLIN FRASER