Themes: Unlikely Friendships, Gender-Bending, Inheritance at Stake
Main Cast: Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah Jane Potts, Jemima Rooper, Linda Bassett
Release Year: 2005
Country: UK
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
A failing shoe factory that's struggling to maintain its footing following the death of its founder finds the inspiration needed to stay in business from the most unlikely of sources in veteran British director Julian Jarrold's warmhearted tale of fancy footwear and changing times. Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) just can't seem to keep the factory afloat on his own, and with the livelihood of his entire small town hanging in the balance, he needs to come up with something truly groundbreaking. Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a sassy female impersonator with a flair for style and a great mind for design. Though on paper their inventive scheme to save the factory may sound too outrageous to be true, stranger things have happened in the world of business, and if it doesn't break them, it may just transform them into the richest footwear manufacturers in all of England. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) is trying to save the family business and travels to London to get ideas. In a chance encounter he meets sassy drag queen performer Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the alter ego of Simon, and sees the possible market of shoes for male transvestites. With the styling eye of Lola, Charlie leads the traditional shoe factory to design and produce numerous shoes for the catwalk in Milan, Italy.