‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Wouldn’t Work Without Dakota Johnson

The Big Picture

• Raiff’s film,
  Cha Cha Real Smooth
  , is his own creation, with Raiff serving as writer, director, producer, editor, and star.
• Dakota Johnson’s portrayal of Domino adds depth and realism to the story, making it more than just a whimsical coming-of-age tale.
• The film challenges the traditional coming-of-age narrative by giving Domino her own journey and highlighting the importance of different perspectives.

Cha Cha Real Smooth is very much Cooper Raiff‘s creation. He wrote/directed/produced/edited and starred in this Sundance charmer, and creates the entire homey attitude and lo-fi atmosphere that the film surrounds itself in. But what turns this film into a story of warmth and compassion rather than an exercise in unmitigated whimsy is his co-star Dakota Johnson. Raiff’s character Andrew, despite being congeniality personified, is certainly not without his flaws. But a coming of age story like Andrew’s often ends up with tunnel vision, with all the world’s conundrums swirling around the protagonist’s adolescence. Johnson’s Domino enters the turbulence of Andrew’s early 20s not as someone with a role to play but as someone with her own winding road waiting to be traveled. Johnson’s ability to anchor Raiff’s coming of age tale in the real world comes from her treatment as a co-protagonist rather than someone billed in the supporting cast.

Domino Is a Co-Protagonist in ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’

Andrew is fresh out of college, a time that he appeared to use more as an experience than as a preparation for the years ahead of him. With no plan in place, Andrew seeks to fashion a career out of his charm, which he is in no shortage of, and begins working as a party starter for the bat/bar mitzvahs of his younger brother and friends. Andrew finds satisfaction through his ability to uplift, the constant barrage of amiability filling up his personal meter of fulfillment. So when Domino comes into the picture, Andrew, of course, falls in love because he views her as the person who needs his help the most.

The exhaustion in Dakota Johnson’s eyes is ever present. It is not a state that ebbs and flows as moments come and go. It’s not a response to any particular event. It’s not even a doubtless dissatisfaction with Domino’s own world. It’s just exhaustion, tiredness from her everyday life. But Andrew views this exhaustion as a sort of gloom, a dark cloud that his sunshine can break through and make intrinsically better. The audience sees a path highlighted with flashing lights and signs pointing toward a conclusion where both characters capture some semblance of fulfillment through a romance with one another. But the movie never takes that path because Domino has the agency to decide not to. The audience sees the happy ending nestling into a place where the two of them end up together because we view it through Andrew’s eyes. But Domino is the protagonist of her own story, a story in which Andrew certainly plays a focal role but isn’t necessarily the fulcrum her life revolves around. He helps her with her struggles, helps her emerge from a funk she knows she’s in but can’t remember what it was like to be out of. But while Andrew’s role is vital, Domino’s interpretation of happiness comes in a more docile form than he is able to provide.

Domino’s Story and Perspective Offer a Sense of Warmth to the Audience

“Coming-of-age” can be a faulty classification for a story because it implies there is a destination that will eventually be met. That “age” will eventually be reached, and the tumultuousness will at some point subside. Many coming-of-age movies feel selfish or narrow-minded because of their protagonists’ inability to see the world outside their own feelings of inadequacy. Moments of vulnerability are occasionally shared, but they often take place within the realm of the protagonist’s understanding of what there is to be vulnerable about. Cha Cha Real Smooth is willing to allow Domino her own coming-of-age arc that is not necessarily tied to the same emotions and conclusion as the arc of Andrew. It’s this vision of two people grappling with emotions and ambitions together but towards different means that gives the movie such a powerful sense of warmth.

Movies often prompt a sense of compassion from the audience toward their characters. We may feel for someone’s plight, have a sense of empathy for a certain struggle. But this display of compassion is mostly a one-way street, the movie demanding an emotion that it is unable to reciprocate. Cha Cha Real Smooth accomplishes the rare feat of feeling for the audience the same way it expects us to feel for their characters, and it does this through Johnson and her character. Andrew is a very particular type of person, one who is easy to enjoy but hard for many who don’t share his infinite brio to connect with. Domino offers a completely different perspective on coming-of-age, in the nature of both “coming” and “age.” While the anatomy of her self-realization might also be foreign to some viewers, it more importantly communicates the idea that Andrew’s way is not the only one.

By offering an interpretation of growth separate from the growth of the protagonist, it allows the audience to see a vast expanse of “coming-of-age” stories, including their own, appreciated in the same manner. With Andrew coming to not only understand but appreciate that Domino’s light at the end of the tunnel might be coming from a different source than his, the audience is made to feel like their own unique struggles are just as appreciated. It is an acknowledgement that struggles are not monolithic, and emanates a beam of compassion for everyone who has to travel down rocky roads, in whatever form and at whatever time that may be.

Dakota Johnson Is the True Star of ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’

Cha Cha Real Smooth smothers the audience in a warmth that allows us to overlook some of the film’s flaws. There are conversations that seem a bit too on the nose and all-encompassing, but the movie’s ability to embrace smothers many missteps. Raiff is great in his role as Andrew. He is energetic and lovable and creates a delightfully unabashed atmosphere that the movie revels in. But without Johnson’s Domino, everything that Cha Cha Real Smooth seeks to achieve would remain unfastened, floating in a realm above the real world where one perspective takes precedence over complexity. Domino allows the audience to feel appreciated because she represents everybody that is dissimilar to Andrew. While the relationship between the two is vital, Cha Cha Real Smooth‘s willingness to allow Domino to exist in a world outside its protagonist is what makes the film feel so cozy and it is her performance that really elevates the film to another level.

Stream Cha Cha Real Smooth on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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