Cha Cha Real Smooth

This is an article ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ by Marc Primo

Release date: 22 June 2022 (United States)

Director: Cooper Raiff

Language: English

Production companies: Picturestart, Endeavor Content, TeaTime Pictures

Producer: Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig, Dakota Johnson, Cooper Raiff, Jessica Switch

SPOILER ALERT—Cooper Raiff is making waves in Hollywood. After scoring a hit with his 2020 debut feature, Shithouse, the actor and director who revived the sad-boy archetype returns with the decent dramedy Cha Cha Real Smooth. Raiff's charming yet flawed indie has been getting critics worked up, and indeed, this breakout newbie's auteur charisma and formula may cause some of his audience to break out in hives.

Somehow being highly influenced by the Duplass brothers' stellar line of independent romantic comedies, 25-year-old Raiff began his serious moviemaking journey when he tweeted Jay Duplass a link to his film school project, a 50-minute production of Madeline & Cooper. Duplass commended the work and encouraged him to make it a feature film, which later turned out to be the micro-budget indie gem Shithouse.

For his second feature effort, Raiff gives audiences an indulgent romance dramedy wherein he plays Andrew, a fresh college graduate looking to strike serious roles and relationships while struggling with his immaturity.

Finding complex emotions in simple things

The story starts with Andrew needing to return home to live with his bipolar mother (Leslie Mann) and no-nonsense stepdad Greg (Brad Garrett) after finishing college and saying goodbye to his Barcelona-bound girlfriend. Upon his return, Andrew finds out that he still has to share a room with his young brother David (Evan Assante) and get a humiliating job at a fast food restaurant. With low esteem from being unable to afford a trip to Spain with his girlfriend, made worse by a developing alcohol problem, Andrew starts re-evaluating his life choices and future.

Being invited to a bat mitzvah with David, Andrew quickly learns he has a knack for being a professional 'party-starter' who can entice reserved teen party-goers to enjoy the occasion. At the same party, he meets unhappily engaged, thirty-something mom Domino (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). Developing chemistry with Lola, Andrew soon develops a genuinely caring interest in the 'mom and daughter' tandem, not knowing emotional consequences are right around the corner.

Wide-eyed, clever, and on the brink of being a masterpiece, Raiff proves to be an acquired taste that is not for everybody. It's easy to sense his endearing and sympathetic nature in his films, particularly in this one, but his fearless approach can be a little too careless to some audiences.

Some may miss his hints of irony, such as in the scene wherein Lola lets Andrew scratch her back in bed while Domino is away for the evening. The ramifications of the scenario might have been handled differently by more seasoned directors but, alas, Raiff dealt with the scene with his best intentions front and center, passing the chance for a more profound character exposition.

So many questions might also surface as you watch the film. Does Andrew understand how this can be inappropriate? Is he genuinely naive and kind that he does not see any implications? We later learn that he thinks he also might be on the spectrum when he reveals it to Domino, albeit jokingly. The important thing is that we find out how human Andrew is, even if some viewers might find Raiff's gravitational pull toward joyful conclusions a far stretch.

Finding heart in complicated affairs

Raiff might have been overwhelmed while tackling Cha Cha Real Smooth on the drawing board, considering he had to follow up on the success of his 2020 SXSW winning-debut Shithouse. However, this heartwarming gem, which also won the 2022 Sundance Audience Award, tugs at the heartstrings with many of its scenes. On the whole, it might seem like the usual Sundance trope about upper-middle-class white people's lives and problems. Still, subtle undercurrents of untapped depth show us how Raiff can give us mature situations worth thinking about long after the film ends.

Raiff lets the authenticity of human kindness exude in Andrew's efforts to brighten Domino and Lola's lives as they wait to build their family with Domino's Chicago-based lawyer and fiancé, Joseph (Raul Castillo). Naturally, the physical attraction happens between Andrew and Domino when spiced with genuine care and curiosity towards each other. Of course, this is where all the complications and 'dark nights of the soul' moments emerge.

Complicated and coming-of-age love stories in the vein of Licorice Pizza or 500 Days of Summer provide the fuel for Raiff's Cha Cha Real Smooth. While the May-December affair may seem a bit unimportant, Johnson's handling of her Domino character shows audiences her empathy about her commitment to her engagement to Joseph. Nonetheless, it shows us how long-distance relationships can create complicated spaces in the lives of people who long for tenderly flirty interactions.

Cinematographer Cristina Dunlap (Am I OK?) delivers tight close-ups to emphasize the romantic tension between Andrew and Domino. Romance fires up as they share a freeze pop at the kitchen counter or when they kiss tentatively with controlled hesitation. These excellently shot scenes invite audiences to that confined space before their lips meet, giving viewers both the pull of responsibility and the push of desire that struggle within themselves.

Perhaps Raiff's most moving lines for Andrew and Domino hit hard during those private moments. As a result, Lola's honesty in expressing her wants and feelings toward those around her offers a level-headed counterpoint that places them where they should be from an emotional standpoint.

A true coming-of-age romcom

While there are flashes of brilliant and realistic humor throughout the film, Cha Cha Real Smooth deals with both mature and fresh-out-of-college topics quite effectively. Though Raiff may still have room for improvement in his screenwriting and filmmaking potential, his sophomore effort shows audiences how he continues to evolve way beyond his years. There are no villains here, just realistic characters whose flaws can be easily understood and accepted. Yet, they all give us those perplexing feelings we need in a modern-day romantic comedy.

The tone may have changed as Raiff ventured further into the darker territories of human emotion, but avoiding his characters' feelings would render Andrew unrealistic. As in Shithouse, Raiff champions the new onscreen heterosexual masculinity traits of being kind, honest, and vulnerable in Cha Cha Real Smooth—a messy human being everyone can relate to as opposed to the alpha male protagonists and hero journeys of old. Considering it's his second feature, that is indeed a breakthrough in itself.