PLOT: A twenty-two-year-old college grad (Cooper Raiff) working as a bar mitzvah party starter strikes up a friendship with the young mother (Dakota Johnson) and an autistic girl (Vanessa Burghardt).
REVIEW: Writer-director-actor Cooper Raiff is quickly becoming an indie darling. Having broken out with his SXSW sleeper, Shithouse, Raiff, who’s only in his early twenties, is making a name for himself as an indie wunderkind. Cha Cha Real Smooth is his sophomore feature, and it’s a step onto a bigger canvas, with the participation of a legit movie star (Dakota Johnson) assuring that more people will see this than his last film.
In many ways, it’s typical Sundance fare, with the story of an aimless young man returning home to figure stuff out a favorite of the festival. The period after college is well-worn, with the premise being explored in everything from The Graduate to Reality Bites. But, what makes Cha Cha Real Smooth unique, not only for the genre but for Sundance, is that Raiff is roughly the same age as the character he’s portraying. Movies like this are usually made with the benefit of hindsight. This one has the over-dramatic weight we tend to associate with everything at that age, but rather than be precious or annoying; it’s fresh and endearing.
It helps that Cooper Raiff is a likeable young guy. Charismatic and rarely without a smile on his face, the character he’s playing, Andrew, is sweet-natured. He’s the life of the party wherever he goes, a departure from the usually morose leads in indie dramas, and you buy that someone like him would be sought after as a party starter, and, despite being a kid, be able to have a nice flirtation with Dakota Johnson as a beautiful young mother.
Here, Raiff’s character is temporarily back home with his mom (Leslie Mann) and stepdad (the always likeable Brad Garrett) while trying to land a decent-paying job. The period after college is challenging for some, and the film evokes a sense of ennui without drowning in it. He sparks up a friendship with Johnson’s Domino because he’s kind to her autistic daughter, winningly played by the hugely likeable Vanessa Burghardt. He’s so good with her he becomes the family sitter, while Domino opens up to him while her fiancee is absent on business.
The “will they or won’t they” aspect is downplayed here, with the emotional connection they have being more important. I found fascinating the weight Raiff gives to what’s just an innocent flirtation. Here, it’s portrayed as this kind of defining moment of growth for Andrew, but I also suspect that the character would probably not really think about the encounter much as he grew older, and it made me think back to moments in my life at that age I hadn’t thought of in awhile. This is a film about being young made by people that are young. That’s actually kind of unique.
Cha Cha Real Smooth will likely emerge from the festival with some kind of streaming deal. Raiff is too likeable, and the name-heavy supporting cast virtually guarantees people will check it out. While a small-scaled film without anything in the way of major stakes, it’s a sweet-natured, pleasing watch that I enjoyed. And after all, it’s not Sundance without at least one coming-of-age tale. This is a pretty good one.