Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Party Animal

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Cooper Raiff wrote, directed, and stars in this Sundance hit, a sort of coming-of-age, romantic-drama that dances slightly outside of those check boxes. Raiff plays Andrew, a recent college grad with no life plan except to follow his girlfriend to Barcelona. To afford that, he works in a mall food court place called Meat Sticks. But he soon finds out that he has a natural gift for being a bar mitzvah party starter. At one such event, he meets Lola (Vanessa Burghardt), who is on the autism spectrum, and her beautiful, melancholy mother, Domino (Dakota Johnson). He bonds with Lola, and an attraction grows between Andrew and Domino, despite the fact that she has a fiance (Raúl Castillo). Cha Cha Real Smooth feels a little show-offy — Raiff's constant, jocular presence onscreen (his mouth is almost constantly open) feels just the tiniest bit egotistical — but it's also truly heartfelt, and honest enough that the other characters have a chance to emerge as well. The wonderful Odeya Rush plays a casual friend of Andrew's, Leslie Mann plays his mom, and Brad Garrett plays his mom's much put-upon boyfriend.