Cha Cha Real Smooth

"Falling in love is easy. Growing up is hard."

2022 1h 48m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

85%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 450🍅85%Rotten Tomatoes●69Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 30,893

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.

“Falling in love is easy. Growing up is hard.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Cooper Raiff
Andrew
Dakota Johnson
Domino
Evan Assante
David
Vanessa Burghardt
Lola
Leslie Mann
Lisa
Brad Garrett
Greg
Raúl Castillo
Joseph
Colton Osorio
Rodrigo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cooper Raiff
Writers: Cooper Raiff
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Cooper Raiff, shot by Cristina Dunlap. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Stracey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cooper Raiff shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson and Evan Assante carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Falling in love is easy. Growing up is hard.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt14376344 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cooper Raiff directs. Cristina Dunlap behind the camera. Christopher Stracey scores. Cooper Raiff cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2Directed by Cooper Raiff, shot by Cristina Dunlap. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Christopher Stracey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Cooper Raiff shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson and Evan Assante carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Falling in love is easy. Growing up is hard.".
7IMDB entry: tt14376344 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 14 themes, including "depression", "friendship", "new jersey", "autism".

The technical file

Cinematography: Cristina Dunlap
Original score: Christopher Stracey
Editing: Cooper Raiff
Production design: Celine Diano
Costume design: Michelle Thompson
Makeup / hair: Felecia Bates
VFX supervisor: Craig Crawford
Sound: Chris Chae
Stunt coordinator: Alex Benevent
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 69/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 30,893 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

6 wins & 14 nominations total

Sundance Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Cooper Raiff

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-18
★ 7/10
Cooper Raiff did just about everything on this quickly paced and rather touching comedy drama. He plays the 22-year old "Andrew", whom we first meet as a young boy who has a crush on a party starter. Dejected after his inevitable rejection, we skip on a few years to when he is using his considerable social skills to get folks up and dancing at the seemingly never ending series of bar/bat mitzvah's in his town. It's at one such gathering that he meets "Domino" (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter "Lola" (a strong performance from Vanessa Burghardt). The challenge is to get the shy young girl to dance and the result is a sitter job and a relationship, of sorts, with her mother - already engaged to the frequently out of town "Joseph" (Raúl Castillo). What now ensues is a gently comedic, but quite potent story that offers the young and charismatic "Andrew" (he reminded me a lot of Jack Whitehall!) with an opportunity to shine. It's about love, yes, but it's about hope and managing expectations too; with this young man, like so many of us at that age, trying to start out in life on as sure a footing as he can. It's not all a barrel of laughs - there is plenty of emotional turmoil for him, "Domino", his mother (Leslie Mann) and for his coming-of-age brother "David" (Evan Assante) and it illustrates also quite effectively just how cruel youngsters can be to each other; and how blind loyalty from their parents doesn't help (though in this film, there are quite entertaining side-effects!). There is chemistry here between the confident Raiff and both Johnson and Burghardt, the soundtrack gets your toes tapping and the conclusion offers a reality that I rather appreciated. It's good, this.
Manuel São Bento2022-06-23
★ 8/10
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/cha-cha-real-smooth-spoiler-free-review "Cha Cha Real Smooth holds incredible authenticity elevated by superb performances and an emotionally impactful story. Cooper Raiff builds extremely relatable protagonists who need each other to learn how to overcome their intricate, uncertain stages of life. Raiff and Dakota Johnson share remarkable chemistry, humbly indulging in their flawed human characters. Appreciating this type of film depends heavily on the life experiences of each viewer due to the genuinely real environment surrounding the entire narrative. Personally, the heartfelt approach to post-graduate life and the brilliant treatment of the autistic daughter touched my heartstrings. Despite being quite simple and even too sweet and naive in several more serious moments, I couldn't recommend this movie more. It deserved to be seen on the big screen." Rating: A-
Nathan2023-05-16
★ 9/10
Cha Cha Real Smooth was an incredibly enjoyable film that I savored every minute of. Cooper Raiff's direction may not have been technically flawless, but his vision for the film as a whole was brilliant. The characters feel so authentic, with fantastic dialogue that is both charming and wholesome. The chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Cooper Raiff is excellent, and their dynamic throughout the movie is what truly sold it for me. Vanessa Burghardt also stands out with her portrayal of both her and her characters' struggle with autism and social settings. Her interactions with Raiff were brilliant, and their relationship was incredibly endearing. From a storytelling perspective, many reviews have criticized Raiff's writing of his character, Andrew, and a knightly figure. However, to me, that was the point. Andrew is young and naive, with a hopeless romantic view of life that makes him believe he knows what's best for everyone, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. His naivety works well in the film, and his realization at the end of the movie brings his character arc to a full circle. However, I did have one minor criticism, which is that the relationship between Domino and her husband felt a bit strange. On the one hand, he is portrayed as a bad person who is rude and demeaning to her, causing her depression. While on the other hand, she appreciates the security he provides her. This dynamic could have been better if the audience was able to see more of the positive aspects of his character, rather than only seeing the negatives. This would have made it clearer that the negatives were mainly on the surface, due to Andrew's already drawn conclusions about his character. Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It was a perfect example of how romantic comedies can be more than just slapstick humor but can deliver a heartfelt narrative that resonates with audiences. The film was both cute and funny, and even had some touching moments that made me feel a range of emotions. It quickly shot up my 2022 rankings, coming in at #9 on the year. Score: 89% 🏅 Verdict: Excellent