Review of Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) by Bertobellamy — 21 Jun 2022
'Cha Cha Real Smooth,' written, directed, co-produced, and starred by Cooper Raiff, feels more like an exercise in self-indulgence than one in exploring youthful tribulations.
The story follows Andrew, a young recent graduate who doesn't know what he wants from life. When he starts working as a party starter, he meets a mother and his autistic daughter. Soon, an emotional bond emerges between all of them, and Andrew will have to decide if this is what he wants for his future.
The film can be seen as a romantic comedy, but more like a coming-of-age that tries to show an apparent existential crisis; however, Raiff's proposal is affected by a series of questionable narrative decisions.
Andrew's characterization leaves a lot to be desired. It's hard to empathize with a guy who's usually rude to his stepdad, who's looking to fit in with the family; that gets irritated at the possibility of infidelity, but only when he's the victim; that pretends to be the savior of a woman who doesn't need saving. For all this and more, the script makes us wonder if it was his ego talking.
Completely ordinary and only funny for a few moments, 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' doesn't have much to say. We could see it as a masculine but inferior version of 'The Worst Person in the World,' in which a real and sometimes raw conflict is evident. Here, we have to deal with an annoying guy who still lives with his parents and who has no aspirations in life other than to be "cool.".
Dakota Johnson is not bad, but her character is not convincing at times. Her "seductress" appearance and the inflection of her voice are just symptoms of the manly dream that Raiff wants to represent here.
'Cha Cha Real Smooth,' big winner at the last edition of the Sundance Film Festival, is another one of those boring and irrelevant feel-good movies, like 'CODA,' that pretend to offer an important lesson through a digestible and supposedly funny story.
I was thinking of giving it a 3, but the 4 is OK just for the soundtrack, although the songs make no sense at all within the story.
This review of Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) was written by Bertobellamy on 21 June 2022.
Cha Cha Real Smooth has generally received positive reviews.
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