We on the other side of the Atlantic are only now getting to see this wonderful comedy/drama from the United Kingdom. Hard to believe for some that a film with drag entertainers could take its inspiration from Frank Capra.

But that's exactly what you have here. Charlie Price played by Joel Edgerton is a 21st century George Bailey, the closest I've ever seen to one portrayed in a long time. He's inherited his family business which is a shoe factory in Northampton. But the market is interested in the kind of craftsmanship his company has been known for over generations. Outlets are now buying cheaper stuff from the former Soviet bloc. He's letting his workers go.

One of them, Linda Bassett, tells him to get up and fight. And an inspiration hits him in the form of a spiked heel. He rescues what he first thinks is a woman, but it is a drag entertainer played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Her spike has broken off in the attack and she's going to have to lay out some big money for new boots.

Like in the old cartoons, a lightbulb goes on over his head and he realizes there's a market here untapped for feminine footwear for cross-dressers. And who better to design the stuff than the person who knows her needs best.

It's not as easy as it sounds. Edgerton has a whole load of issues to overcome as does Ejiofor in learning to trust and respect his new business partner.

If you've seen any of Frank Capra's populist classics from the Thirties and Forties you already know what the ending will be.

Though for the life of me I cannot see James Stewart doing what Edgerton almost has to do to save the situation at the fashion show.

Kinky Boots has a terrific performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor but is let down by some clunky writing and plot contrivances that really took me out of the film.

Charles Price (Joel Edgerton) was born into the footwear business. Their men's shoes were built to last but my word they look ugly.

When Charles father dies, he inherits a business that is at risk of going bust. On a night out in London he comes across drag queen Lola (Ejiofor) who is being accosted by some men and fixes her broken heel. The incident gives Charles the idea of designing women's shoes for men.

The workforce in the Northampton factory are initially not keen on the idea or their new shoe designer Lola.

The film although based on a true incident is not really campy enough or much of a romantic comedy. Australian Edgerton does a serviceable regional accent but his character is a bit bland. There is an air of predictability about the whole thing. The finale where Lola and Charles have an argument just before their unveiling of their kinky boots in Milan just did not work for me.

Kinky Boots's narrative is deceptively and remarkably pedestrian. That's not meant as an insult. While delving into the splashy world of England's trans-gendered community, this film is comfortably predictable; courageously lucid and effortlessly absorbing. It's a film that conjures comparison to the safe and simple moralistic fables and old-wives tales that color our youth. It's a Grimm fairy- tale wrapped in a frock.

Much like the Grimm's most famous tale, Kinky Boots concerns the travails of an insolvent shoemaker. As heir to the Price & Sons men's shoe factory, Charlie (Edgerton) has his work cut out for him. His father left the business with outdated orders and no prospects for continuation. While trying unsuccessfully to put things back together, Charlie meets the sultry and vivacious Lola (Ejiofor) a drag queen with a fledgling night club in downtown London. Inspired by Lola and longtime employee Lauren (Potts),Charlie devises a plan to sell niche market pumps to cross-dressing men and trans-gendered women thus saving the shoe-factory from bankruptcy. The question is will the rest of his provincial staff go along with the plan?

As our embattled hero, Joel Edgerton is serviceable. His ability to portray glints of inspiration halts his character from pulling apart at the seems yet with such a commanding physical presence he's really not the kind of guy who should be playing this kind of role. A brief rundown of the character's resume which includes a major in marketing and a lack of fortitude around his fiancée Nicola (Rooper) conjures images of a nebbish prig, not Brendan from Warrior (2011). Yet if anything holds this film together it's Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola. The man is a stunningly beautiful vision of femininity and a sensitive portrayal of a self-proclaimed drag queen. When he enters the room, everyone perks up and when he doesn't we feel the void. In addition his resounding baritone is put to excellent use in a host of Cabaret (1972)-like club performances.

Part of the film's charm lays with its wholesome rumination on manhood. A portion of the story is centered on Lola becoming an accepted member of Price & Sons' business as a shoe designer. Opposition at first is fierce with Nick Frost's Don being the most stringent sectarian. Lola and Don connect through a round of competitive challenges meant to put in question each other's masculinity. Charlie, who lives in the shadow of is father, likewise faces challenges to his manhood, questioning everything from his relationship with fiancée to his decision to make women's shoes for "blokes". In the end, the film concludes that the traditional views of masculinity aren't incongruous with modern mores but rather enhanced by themes of bravery, tenacity and sensitivity.

Kinky Boots is based on the true-ish story of the Divine Footwear brand released by WJ Brookes. The real story is a little more bittersweet but why ruminate on the slow demise of Britain's shoe industry or the slightly troubling realization that if the film took place in a hat factory it wouldn't change the film one iota. Yet Kinky Boot's embrace of the true-life hit job clichés that made Dangerous Minds (1995) so disposable is ironically its best feature. By resting on tried and true story beats and bending over backwards to create safe PG-13 fanfare Kinky Boots is not simply cashing in on LGBTQ shock-value but normalizing the LGBTQ community; or at the very least normalizing transvestism.

In today's political climate where otherwise fully functioning adults aren't allowed to use the potty anymore, Kinky Boots the film, and its recent adaptation to the stage is not just a triumph but a much needed piece of entertainment. Sure it doesn't have the gutter realism of Tangerine (2015) or the emotional complexity of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) but it really doesn't have to. It's light, it's airy, it's fluff but by being so charming it's also good, wholesome entertainment about the value of being different.

Perhaps it's the reductive hysteria surrounding contemporary politics, or perhaps it's the stupor of having to sit through films that casually link transvestism to perversion, pedophilia, sex trafficking and/or cold-blooded killing. I'm just glad there's a movie out there about a vibrant songbird who design stylish shoes that become the toast of Britain's fashion world. Plus the movie has some catchy tunes to boot.