Ah, finally a film that reminds us you’re never too young to find Dakota Johnson hot. Sponsored by the band who brought you “Stacy’s Mom,” Cha Cha Real Smooth tells the story of 22-year old Andrew (Cooper Raiff), a Jig Conductor who roams the bar/bat mitzvah scene to get closer to a mom, Domino (Johnson).
Ok, it’s not quite fair to say Andrew only does it to get close to Domino, but remember this is giving the man the benefit of the doubt; otherwise, you’re going to ask yourself why an adult man chooses to spend his weekends hanging out with 13-year-olds. You see what I’m getting at, yes?
Andrew (writer/director/star Cooper Raiff – a potential future Oscar recipient) has returned home after graduation from college. Like many of his peers, his life is at loose ends. He takes his younger brother David (Evan Assante) to a bat mitzvah where meets Domino and her daughter Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). Lola is autistic; Andrew falls for the pair almost instantly. There’s a clever dance at this dance – the cynic in me says Andrew is only interested in Domino, so he has to appear to be interested in Lola to win Domino’s approval – but Andrew is more than than just a cynical response; he seems genuinely inspired by a desire to see all partygoers, and especially Lola, have a good time … and he is clearly very good at getting wallflowers to uproot and shake their petals, knowwhatI’msayin’? His enthusiasm is rewarded with a part-time gig of rock the mitzvah/rock the mitzvah.
Meanwhile, Andrew continues to seem genuinely interested in both Domino and Lola. And part of us wants that to be a cynical selfish interest, because, otherwise, dude! Why are you interested in an underage autistic girl? I think all of this material has to be handled with caution and the young filmmaker does, quite frankly, a wonderful job with such. We the audience aren’t quite certain how or if he’s going to get his romance on with Domino, but we are certain that he truly does like Lola in a completely platonic fashion, so much so that Domino is happy to request Andrew sit for Lola when she’s out.
At this point, I really was, “damn, I’m glad the star here is the writer/director because I really don’t know how else 
bifurcated roles would approach the situation.” And Andrew truly is a decent human being. More than once in the film, he sacrifices a potential paycheck to make sure Dakota & Lola know that he has their back. These are some of the sweetest scenes in 2022 film – it’s the ultimate romance, a soft-sell based on being nothing more than a, how shall I put this, a mensch.
I put Cha Cha Real Smooth in the same category as Once – a likeable film that doesn’t really work, but you’ll forgive it because it’s likeable. Perhaps that’s a bit unfair; how about: film that doesn’t have the conclusion you want to see? The problem being this is a romance, and it better be Annie Hall-level quality if you’re gonna reach the conclusion you reach. Cha Cha Real Smooth is probably not a film I will see again, but I am all in on the future of Cooper Raiff. I think he has the potential to be the 21st Century Woody Allen — in the good sense, not the sense where a 22-year-old trolls bat mitzvahs for “fun.”
Once lived a party planner named Andrew
Who could inspire dancing from all your crew
But he got carried away
With a mother, one day
And romanced past his own curfew
Rated R, 107 Minutes
Director: Cooper Raiff
Writer: Cooper Raiff
Genre: Working the bar mitzvah scene
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Hipsters into older women
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The men who married those women
