During the holiday season, the color red is commonly associated with poinsettias, Christmas ornaments and the fashionable hat-and-jacket combo worn by the chubby, bearded dude from the North Pole.
But as far as sexy images and relationships are concerned, red is a color that dominates no matter what time of year it is. This is especially true in Kinky Boots, a fab and fun British film directed by Julian Jarrold and available on DVD in time for the holidays.
Joel Edgerton stars as Charlie Price, a lad who inherits his family's shoe factory in the small town of Northampton after his father dies. The only problem is that Charlie does not know how to make shoes, let alone run a business. Then he meets Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a flashy cabaret singer and drag queen who convinces him to design a new brand of glitzy high-heeled boot to meet the growing demands of the cross-dressing community around the globe.
Of course, getting the workers at the factory to make sexy shoes for men wearing cocktail dresses is an entirely separate issue. During his rally speech, Charlie explains the goal in vivid detail. "You are no longer making Oxford boots. You are making two-and-a-half feet of irresistible tubular sex!" After a solid attack of spicy dialog and the ultimate showdown of an intensive wrist-wrestling battle between Lola and Ron, the single-minded bully on the staff, the work begins.
The end result is a long, tall and slender pair of deep Burgundy-colored boots worthy of being judged at the international shoe competition in Milan, Italy, and a thickening romantic side plot that continues to build until the end of the film. Kinky Boots is a solid mixture of edgy humor and cultural wit that is held together by a brilliant soundtrack featuring songs by Ejiofor, James Brown, David Bowie and others.
If you like Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, add Kinky Boots to your list of must-watch rentals in the daring, gender-bending canon.
While there are many tasty wine options to pair with this film, the obvious choice is Champagne or sparkling wine. An example that can measure up to the style of bubbly Lola is drinking throughout the film is the Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut, a modern style Champagne from Epernay that is made with a blend of 40 per cent pinot noir, 20 per cent chardonnay, and 40 per cent pinot muenier (an intriguing red grape variety that is a cousin to pinot noir). The result is a wine featuring bright floral aromas and delicious flavors of ripe wild strawberry, raspberry and toasted nuts.
On the domestic end of the spectrum, a fine selection is the Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs ($34.50*), a delicate pinot noir-based sparkling wine made with fruit grown in Napa, Mendocino and Sonoma counties. This wine features a light pink hue and notes of almonds, white peach, cherries, freshly made pastry, and a marvelous long-lasting finish much like the film.
In addition to working well with Kinky Boots, these wines also pair well with seasonal cuisine, including fine cheeses, fish, poultry, pork tenderloin or something as simple as popcorn spiced with a pinch of salt, dried oregano, and truffle-based olive oil. Get going!
* Prices quoted in U.S. dollars
