Even before the first frame of Cha Cha Real Smooth appears on screen, writer/director/star Cooper Raiff immediately identifies the time and tone of this film. The use of Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On” doesn’t just bring about memories of a young Andrew (played by Raiff) dancing at bar mitzvahs in the early 2010s. For many current 10-12-year-olds, this might would signal a very specific period in life where they are dealing with the early onset of puberty, romantic feelings, discovering their personality, etc. In other words, every complicated and contradictory feeling of “coming of age.”
