Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
“This is Jerry.” – Lola.
Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
Directed by: Cooper Raiff
Written by: Cooper Raiff
Starring: Cooper Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Vanessa Burghardt, Leslie Mann
You know how ‘elevated horror’ became the new ‘hot thing’ ten years ago? Hereditary, Get Out, The Witch - they were smarter, more dramatic, ‘better’ than your average slasher film. Well, ‘elevated coming-of-age rom-coms’ are the new big thing - punctuated by CODA’s Best Picture win - and they just happen to be 25 year-old writer-director-actor wonderkid Cooper Raiff’s speciality. Raiff received widespread acclaim for his debut micro-budget college dorm dramedy Shithouse a few years ago, but has followed it up with one of the best movies of 2022 in Cha Cha Real Smooth.
Raiff plays Andrew, a recent college graduate still living at home. Vowing to leave home as soon as possible (potentially to Barcelona to follow an ex-girlfriend), Andrew begins working as a ‘party starter’ for local Bar Mitzvahs. He’s not aimless exactly, but exudes the energetic uncertainty everyone feels in their post-school years. Between DJing and getting everyone to “dance their booty’s off”, Andrew makes friends with young mother Domino (Johnson) and her autistic daughter Lola (Burghardt) at a Bar Mitzvah, soon becoming Lola’s babysitter and falling head over heels for Domino.
This relationship is a disaster in the wrong hands, but Raiff treads the line between cheesy and romantic perfectly. Sure, Cha Cha lathers on the feel-good moments (highlighted by the subplot of Andrew helping his younger brother with his girlfriend), but it’s also littered with crushed dreams and broken hearts. At one point Domino describes life as “tangled” and that seems to encapsulate the movie perfectly. Andrew is juggling his own underwhelming life, Lola, Domino, his little brother, his mum, his stepdad, and Raiff explores the good and bad in all of these relationships. The movie is anchored by a sparkling performance by Dakota Johnson, who remains one of the most underrated actresses working today, and Raiff brings his affable, charismatic charm to provide her with perfect sparring partner.
This has the chance to go down as an all-time rewatchable rom-com classic, and I can’t wait to see what Raiff does next.
Rating: 9/10