Charlie Price's dad, who came from a long line of shoe manufacturers, always used to tell Charlie that what a man wears on his feet tells a lot about him. Charlie's shoes, generic whitish sporty things, clearly signal that Charlie doesn't want to follow in his forebears' footsteps, overseeing an assembly line churning out pair after pair of toffee-colored wingtips.

His plans to escape the gray industrial town of Northampton, England, with his girlfriend, an ambitious real estate agent, are scuttled by his dad's sudden death. Charlie (Joel Edgerton) finds himself inheriting a near-bankrupt factory he has neither the aptitude, the experience, nor the commitment to run. Worse, his father kept the staff cranking out old-school shoes while concealing the fact that his biggest customers canceled their orders in favor of cheaper overseas goods.

"What can I do?" he shrugs as he lays off workers one after the next. Find a profitable niche market, barks the levelheaded Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts), storming out the exit. As Charlie gropes for a way to pull himself up by the bootstraps, he has a chance encounter with towering transvestite nightclub performer Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Denzel Washington's cop partner in "Inside Man") who can't find red patent leather stiletto thigh-highs in size 13. With Charlie providing the know-how and Lola the lusty designs, the pair form a partnership that could rescue the factory -- provided they wow the buyers at the fast-approaching Milan shoe fair.

With predictable romantic twists and objections from old-timers as the company's wares go from sensible beige to tiger stripes, "Kinky Boots" would be little but a gender-bending retread of "The Full Monty" if it weren't for Ejiofor's regal Lola. Investing the role with dignity, courage and rapier wit, he turns what could have been a collection of costumes, earrings and wigs into a breathing character. He also does a very creditable job of singing "Cha Cha Heels,"Whatever Lola Wants" and -- surprise -- "These Boots Are Made for Walkin.' " The film's last-reel uplift and politically correct message would be a drag if Ejiofor didn't sell them with a performance fit for a queen.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186