Cha Cha Real Smooth

Cooper Raiff did just about everything on this quickly paced and rather touching comedy drama. He plays the 22-year old "Andrew", whom we first meet as a young boy who has a crush on a party starter. Dejected after his inevitable rejection, we skip on a few years to when he is using his considerable social skills to get folks up and dancing at the seemingly never ending series of bar/bat mitzvah's in his town. It's at one such gathering that he meets "Domino" (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter "Lola" (a strong performance from Vanessa Burghardt). The challenge is to get the shy young girl to dance and the result is a sitter job and a relationship, of sorts, with her mother - already engaged to the frequently out of town "Joseph" (Ra...

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"Cha Cha Real Smooth holds incredible authenticity elevated by superb performances and an emotionally impactful story.

Cooper Raiff builds extremely relatable protagonists who need each other to learn how to overcome their intricate, uncertain stages of life. Raiff and Dakota Johnson share remarkable chemistry, humbly indulging in their flawed human characters.

Appreciating this type of film depends heavily on the life experiences of each viewer due to the genuinely real environment surrounding the entire narrative. Personally, the heartfelt approach to post-graduate life and the brilliant treatment of the autistic daughter t...

Cha Cha Real Smooth was an incredibly enjoyable film that I savored every minute of. Cooper Raiff's direction may not have been technically flawless, but his vision for the film as a whole was brilliant. The characters feel so authentic, with fantastic dialogue that is both charming and wholesome. The chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Cooper Raiff is excellent, and their dynamic throughout the movie is what truly sold it for me. Vanessa Burghardt also stands out with her portrayal of both her and her characters' struggle with autism and social settings. Her interactions with Raiff were brilliant, and their relationship was incredibly endearing.

From a storytelling perspective, many reviews have criticized Raiff's writing of his charac...

This movie is very middle of the road blandness. It is an incredibly sanitized portrait of mental illness, neurodivergence, and depression. All these apparently flawed people seem to fill their days with well-adjusted and open discussions about their struggles. There's no nuance or dimension to any of the characters. Everyone is perfectly nice to everyone except for the stereotypical son/father bully duo who are of course huge pieces of shit. It at least follows a coherent narrative and is watchable. I'd say a good litmus test on whether to watch it or not is if the title gives you the icks. I should have known better.