Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) Movie Review
Cha Cha Real Smooth is the latest effort from writer, director, and actor Cooper Raiff. For only his second feature film, Raiff crafts an incredibly complex and sentimental film. Andrew (Cooper Raiff) is a recent college graduate who lives at home with his parents and younger brother David (Evan Assante). While attending a bat mitzvah with David, he helps get the party started by getting the kids to dance. This inadvertently lands him a job as a de facto party promoter on the bat mitzvah circuit.
While party-promoting, Andrew meets Domino (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter Lola (Vanessa Burghardt) who is autistic. It’s immediately clear that Andrew is attracted to Domino despite the fact that she has a fiance, Joseph (Raul Castillo), who is away a lot for work. But it’s Andrew’s relationship with Lola that is interesting. He is able to pull her out of her shell and is actually invested in being her friend. This could be read as a creepy way to get close to Domino, but Raiff plays it so delicately and truly puts Lola at the center.
Johnson’s character is the most complex of the bunch. Domino is full of melancholy and torn between what she wants and what she knows she needs. There’s a real push-pull between her desire to be free and her desire to settle down and be an “adult” in the real sense of the word. She is attracted to Andrew despite their age difference or perhaps because of it. He has his whole life in front of him and with it, the easy breezy attitude of someone who hasn’t been fully thrust into the tumult of adulthood. She even tells him, “When I’m with you, I feel so alive, and I feel so special. But that’s because it’s all possibility. We’re not in a relationship.” The possibility and newness of what could be is something everyone can relate to.
Relationships are at the heart of Cha Cha Real Smooth and Andrew is at the center of most of them. He has a close relationship with his mom (Leslie Mann) and his brother. It’s easy to see why folks are drawn to him because he radiates positivity and wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s also prone to saying sweet things that are so earnest it’ll make you want to cry. His friendship with Lola is poignant because he lets her be herself and accepts her for who she is. And finally his relationship with Domino will keep you guessing and leave you heartbroken for both parties.
This movie contains all of the emotions and you’ll find yourself tearing up and laughing intermittently throughout. Cha Cha Real Smooth is a poignant story about growing up and navigating life’s difficulties. Raiff manages to balance the movie perfectly ensuring It is heartwarming without being cheesy. For someone who is only in his mid-twenties, Raiff has proven he is a director to watch.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like stories about the tumultuous years of your twenties
2. You like atypical male protagonists
3. You like coming of age stories
