Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

[StatisticalOutlier]

This is on Apple TV+, but I saw it in a theater.  I was not compelled by the description:  "A young man who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host strikes up a friendship with a mother and her autistic daughter."  But the scheduling was good so I went anyway.

I'd say it's more, "Recent college graduate is living at home, adrift."  Which might not be any more compelling for some people, but I don't mind movies about 20-somethings figuring out their lives.  I liked Mumblecore, for example, even though I was way outside its demographic.  But where Mumblecore was often not very polished, Cha Cha Real Smooth is very polished, and I kind of can't believe the writer/director/star is 25 years old. 

I loved this movie, even though I spent a good amount of it reminding myself that the star was not Chris Eigeman.  This kid looks exactly like him, sounds like him, and even moves like him, and he as the same charm.  Fortunately, he also has much bigger teeth than Eigeman, so when he smiles I grok that it's not Jason Stiles, but that's about the only way to tell them apart.

I'm also realizing Leslie Mann has worn thin for me.  And that Dakota Johnson is a wonder--I need to pay more attention to her.  And the girl who played the daughter was outstanding.  

It's basically two hours with good people who are interestingly complex.

[cpcathy]

I thought it was trying too hard to be a feel good movie. Cooper has cast himself as a sort of manic, pixie dream boy, so nice, so cute, so funny! There’s no nuance to him. Plus he’s in every scene, and, we’ll, he’s a lot. Dakota is beautiful as always, but her character is underwritten, she seems to glom into him so quick, of course because he has written himself so charmingly. Then we are given her fiancé, whom we think will be a villain, but, oh, no—he’s nice too!
I think Cooper needs to take some acting lessons and then write something with either more subtlety or a smaller part for himself.

[Nellise]

I didn't realize who Cooper was when I started watching this or else I doubt I would have watched it. I watched his earlier movie Shithouse a little while ago and this is so similar in that his character falls for a woman who doesn't really want to be with him even though he's a super nice guy! I stuck around for Dakota Johnson since I've liked her since Ben & Kate (I skipped the 50 Shades movies).

As someone who's disabled it was a bit annoying watching his savior act with Lola. It's easy to be a friend during the good moments when you don't really have to deal with the disability, but that's not an option for a parent. Someone as flighty as him would peace out the moment it got difficult, but this movie gave him a pass where he never had to deal with that.

[StatisticalOutlier]

6 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I thought it was trying too hard to be a feel good movie. Cooper has cast himself as a sort of manic, pixie dream boy, so nice, so cute, so funny! There’s no nuance to him. Plus he’s in every scene, and, we’ll, he’s a lot.

He's definitely a lot, but not too much if you like his character, which I did.  I'd love to hang out with the guy who can get people up and dancing.

And I was interested in how Andrew was learning about people, how they have their reasons for doing what they do, and he should respect that.  And he had his own share of miseries.

8 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Then we are given her fiancé, whom we think will be a villain, but, oh, no—he’s nice too!

I don't think thanking Andrew for protecting his step-daughter turned him from being a villain into being nice.  In fact, if he hadn't acknowledged what Andrew did, then he would have been portrayed just as one-dimensionally as you think Andrew was portrayed. 

[SeanC]

16 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Cooper has cast himself as a sort of manic, pixie dream boy, so nice, so cute, so funny! There’s no nuance to him.

I mean, he's kind of self-centered and immature. Just not to some grandiose or self-destructive level.

Anyway, I thought it was a very charming little film. I was a bit thrown by the promos showing Dakota Johnson as the mother of a teenager, but her being a teen mom was actually central to her character, so that checks out.

[StatisticalOutlier]

20 hours ago, Nellise said:

As someone who's disabled it was a bit annoying watching his savior act with Lola. It's easy to be a friend during the good moments when you don't really have to deal with the disability, but that's not an option for a parent. Someone as flighty as him would peace out the moment it got difficult, but this movie gave him a pass where he never had to deal with that.

But if it were easy to be a friend during the good moments, wouldn't Lola have more friends?  At least Andrew tried, when nobody else was.  And he recruited the kids to try, too.

As for getting a pass on dealing with Lola's difficult moments, that wasn't his responsibility, and it was never going to be his responsibility because he was never going to have a relationship with Domino and he wasn't even going to get to babysit Lola any more.  Domino had Lola when she was very young, and because of that she didn't get to spend her 20s figuring herself out.  I thought it was lovely that she acknowledged that and told Andrew to spend his 20s like he's supposed to.  It's kind of a twist on the "you deserve better than me" breakup, but genuine.

[Nellise]

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

But if it were easy to be a friend during the good moments, wouldn't Lola have more friends?  At least Andrew tried, when nobody else was.  And he recruited the kids to try, too.

The other kids aren't trying to get with her mother.

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

As for getting a pass on dealing with Lola's difficult moments, that wasn't his responsibility, and it was never going to be his responsibility because he was never going to have a relationship with Domino and he wasn't even going to get to babysit Lola any more.

He wanted a relationship with Domino. She's the one that shut it down. It would have been his responsibility if she hadn't done that.

I also thought of a kind of weird scene. I know it was supposed to play as sweet, but they really should have thought a bit more about including it: a grown man should not accept an invitation to touch a fifteen year old girl in her bed while they're alone.