The bat mitzvah movie with a heart of gold
Cha Cha Real Smooth’s Cooper Raiff finds joy in Jewish tradition
COOPER RAIFF IS on a one-man mission. “I want to make movies that make people feel really good,” says the writer, director and star of Cha Cha Real Smooth, an emotionally rich indie film about a 22-year-old college graduate who takes up a side-hustle as a bat mitzvah hype man. The Sundance-winner is Raiff’s second film, after his equally tender (if rudely named) college-set debut Shithouse. “The idea came to me while
I was watching Wedding Crashers,” he says of Cha Cha Real Smooth’s party premise. “And then the school that I went to was 50 per cent Jewish. My seventh-grade year was defined by going to bat mitzvahs every weekend.” It’s here, amidst the torahs and the trap music, that Raiff’s aimless Andrew forges a connection with Dakota Johnson’s Domino and her autistic daughter Lola. “This is really a love letter to parents of disabled kids,” he explains.
As with Shithouse, the filmmaker goes to lengths to show the best in all of his characters, even in bad situations. “I always really love each character that I’m writing, and ultimately I want everyone else to love them,” he says earnestly. And the key to unlocking that feeling? Showing those people at their most messy. “You can’t really love someone unless you see them as fully formed, and not just full of shit. They have a lot going on, but they’re these battered optimists.”
For some, the idea of getting a room full of people into the party spirit is hell on Earth. Including Raiff. “I would be the worst party starter in the world,” he laughs. “I’m very introverted, and I slept very well at the end of every day of filming. But it’s actually just like directing; you’re trying to keep people pumped and excited to be on camera.” With the film scoring the biggest sale out of Sundance (the film went to Apple to the tune of $15 million), Raiff’s filmmaking career is on the rise, and though the project he’s currently developing is “a bit violent and aggressive”, the same unshakeable mission still lies at the heart of his work. “You’re gritting your teeth for 100 minutes, but you’re still rooting for the people in this film,” he says. It sounds like a battered optimist trilogy may be on the cards.