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Cha Cha Real Smooth begins with lead protaganist Andrew, as a 12-year-old boy, in love with Bella who teaches dancing at his school, and thinks she’s in love with him too, but she’s a middle-aged woman, but… that’s how kids are.
Fast-forward ten years and as a young man (and played by writer/director Cooper Raiff), he dreams of going places and working at a non-profit organisation for disadvantaged children, whilst also holding party nights, but ends up at fast-food joint Meat Sticks.
While attending a Bar Mitzvah, he meets Domino (Dakota Johnson – The Lost Daughter), is a ‘crazy mom’ with an autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt), the latter of whom is autistic and who Andrew introduces to his brother, David (Evan Assante), as they’re approximately the same age. David’s also at that age when he’s concerned about when he’s going to have his first kiss.
Before long, Andrew falls in love with Domino, so while this film is partly about him getting to know and babysit for Lola. However, he’s 22, while Domino is 32. Is the feeling being returned? Well, things are further complicated in that she’s in a relationship with headstrong Joseph (Raúl Castillo), but is that guy her soulmate? Andrew could technically be the best option for her as they seem to get on better, but as well as the age gap, is he going to end up in the friend-zone?
Naturally, he’ll keep quiet his fuck-buddy relationship with Macy (Odeya Rush).
Throwing in some other subplots and with decent acting from all concerned, Cha Cha Real Smooth is an engaging and comfortable film, albeit one that won’t set the world on fire, I would say, but then again, there’s not many films that concentrate on autism as a key factor, so a lot of people will check it out for that reason. Either way, it’s worth a watch.
And if you’re wondering, the title partly stems from Andrew featuring a Cha Cha Slide dance at his parties, and while the title does feature in that song, I get the feeling that very little hhe does is particularly smooth… His life is certainly not on a smooth path.
Cha Cha Real Smooth is on Apple TV+ from Friday June 17th, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 107 minutes
Release date: June 17th 2022
Studio: Apple TV+
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Prores 4444 XQ (4K))
Rating: 7/10
Director: Cooper Raiff
Producers: Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig, Dakota Johnson, Cooper Raiff, Jessica Switch
Screenplay: Cooper Raiff
Music: Este Haim, Christopher Stracey
Cast:
Andrew: Cooper Raiff
Domino: Dakota Johnson
David: Evan Assante
Lola: Vanessa Burghardt
Andrew’s Mom: Leslie Mann
Stepdad Greg: Brad Garrett
Joseph: Raúl Castillo
Rodrigo: Colton Osorio
Maya: Amara Pedroso Saquel
Macy: Odeya Rush
Margaret: Brooklyn Sloane Ramirez
Bella: Kelly O’Sullivan
Andrew (12): Javien Mercado
Andrew’s Dad: Chris Newman
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.