Sundance Review: CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH is a Sweet and Charming Film with an Insanely Lovable Lead Character
There’s always at least one film at Sundance that brings on the charm, and this year, that film is Cha Cha Real Smooth. This is a wonderful coming of age comedy about a guy named Andrew who has graduated from college and is still trying to figure out what to do with his life.
Andrew (Cooper Raiff) is also a hopeful romantic who ends up meeting a local mom named Domino (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). Andrew befriends them and forms a tight relationship with them as he tends to be there for them when they need help.
Andrew is a happy-go-lucky guy, and to help make ends meet, he worked in a mall food court at a corndog place called Meat Sticks. He also starts working at parties and bat mitzvahs as the guy who gets the parties going, because if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s getting the party started! Raiff’s Andrew is such an admirable and likable guy, who is filled with good positive energy, and his character is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed the movie so much. He’s just the type of guy that is fun to be around. He’s also charismatic, kind, funny, snarky, and he has deep compassion for others.
Cha Cha Real Smooth is a charming and feel-good movie filled with wonderful heartfelt moments and lighthearted humor that will make audiences laugh. I enjoyed watching Andrew’s story unfold over the course of the movie. You just want so badly for him to have a happy ending and you want everything to work out for him.
Life takes him on quite a little journey with all of its ups and downs, and it’s rough to watch as he hits those lows. He’s just the guy you want to root for! Life is filled with all kinds of emotions and feelings and this film captures those things in a fun and entertaining way. The story explores humanity and the willingness to display vulnerability. It offers an honest and sweet look at struggles most of us are familiar with.
Raiff is also surrounded by a wonderful supporting cast. Johnson delivers a terrific performance, and also joining him is Leslie Mann and Brad Garrett, which play Andrew’s mom and stepfather.
This is a wonderfully satisfying movie that I hope you watch when it's eventually released.
Here's the description from Sundance:
Fresh out of college — but now what? Higher education failed to provide 22-year-old Andrew with a clear life path going forward, so he’s stuck back at home with his family in New Jersey. But if college did teach him one thing, it’s drinking and partying — skills that make him the perfect candidate for a job party-starting at the bar and bat mitzvahs of his younger brother’s classmates. When Andrew befriends a local mom, Domino, and her daughter, Lola, he finally discovers a future he wants, even if it might not be his own.
Cooper Raiff follows up his 2020 SXSW Grand Jury Prize–winning debut feature, Shithouse, with a tale of young love that brims with emotional honesty. He writes, directs, produces, and stars in this charmer that respects all its characters’ struggles, even in moments when its protagonist can’t see beyond himself. Featuring a fantastic ensemble cast including Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, and newcomers Vanessa Burghardt and Evan Assante, Cha Cha Real Smooth is made for the hopeless romantic living inside us all.