A young man whose specialty lies in marketing takes over his dead father's ailing shoe-making factory, turning the product away from mens-wear into a boot business for drag queens. Is it possible to build a feel-good comedy on the ultimate fortunes of a sad sack from Britain's Northampton district who can't tell an evil, nasty girl (his fiancée) from an honest, hard-working one with an open mind? In this slimly-plotted British film directed by Julian Jarrold, the working-class are automatic bigots, women who strive for a life outside of the factories are bitches, and the enemy is someone with a closed mind (who has to be faced down on his turf in order to become enlightened). Though based on a real account, "Kinky Boots" is a tried-and-untrue stomp down familiar avenues. Joel Edgerton, who resembles Conan O'Brien, is serviceable as the new businessman until it's discovered that he too has issues with cross-dressers; putting an entire fashion show in Milan on the line, he turns on his friend and designer (Chiwetel Ejiofor) out of embarrassment. This is the kind of movie where people stare in shocked silence at other people "they don't understand", but the rejection here seems rooted in something more personal, less abstract--it's so disheartening that whatever triumphs follow ring false (some apologies come too late to matter). The happy-endings, which are then tacked on, have no exhilaration, no juicy kick. It's all shallow Hollywood--UK style. *1/2 from ****