Blandly pleasant, paint-by-numbers entry in the genre inaugurated by The Adventures of Priscilla but turned into a cash-cow by the British industry – The Full Monty, Billy Elliot, Calendar Girls, Bend It Like Beckham, Mrs Henderson Presents, etc – where a slightly transgressive idea, person, or act – e.g. drag queening, stripping, women playing football, stripping again – is played against a background that plays at social realism but actually evokes Ealing style folk-whimsy.
Said transgressives strike sparks against shallowly investigated cultural mores, and gain an underdog triumph. Chiwetel Ejiofor gives his role as the clichéd outrageous-but-haunted queen Lola all he’s got, and he’s fun, but never convincing. Joel Edgerton, the leading man, is as exciting as a bucket of bleach.
