Flamin’ Hot (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – This is the inspiring true story of Richard Montañez who as a Frito Lay janitor disrupted the food industry by channeling his Mexican American heritage to turn Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from a snack into an iconic global pop culture phenomenon.

My Take – In the world of snacks, I don’t think anything is as popular as Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The bright, neon-red spicy corn-based crunchy chips can be found in almost every store, irrespective of the size or location and nowadays manages to find itself in almost everything from starters, sandwiches, burgers and even drinks. You’re certain to see at least one bag in a small gathering.

But who could have thought that behind the snacks is the story of the American Dream of a man’s long awaited affirming rise that could only be topped by the stuff of fairy tales.

That man being Richard Montañez who started his career at Frito-Lay as a janitor, apparently came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos back when he was working on the plant floor, mixed up spices inspired by Elote (corn cob) to make samples that he presented directly to then CEO Roger Enrico, despite being aware of how unorthodox it was for a low-level employee to call up the head of the company. An initiative which started a new journey that allowed him to retire after 42 years, as a VP at PepsiCo.

But while there has been a lot of buzz since the Los Angeles Times published allegations that Montañez fabricated his role in the snack’s creation particularly with Frito-Lay confirming his non-involvement, Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut, and writers Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez, inspired by the book “A Boy, A Burrito and A Cookie: from Janitor to Executive”, manage to use the originally told story to create something that is fun, inspirational, and makes for a very easy viewing.

There’s a cheerful vibe about the whole film, one which captures the spark of creativity that often comes during difficult times. Sure, it doesn’t take many huge creative leaps, but it is filled with plenty of heart and moves its pieces around in the right order to tell a feel-good story.

Personally, I never thought I would be praising a film about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and it’s not just because I’m a fan myself, this one is a nice little film to relieve you at the end of a stressful day.

The story follows Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), a Mexican who grew up in 1960s Southern California under the thumb of his strict working-class father (Emilio Rivera), and often found himself bullied by the kids at school who threw around racial slurs at him.

That is until, he manages to win them over by selling them his mom’s homemade burritos. He even befriends the other Mexican kid at school, a girl named Judy (Annie Gonzalez), who’d go on to become his wife.

But by 1980s when Judy gets pregnant and a judge lets him off with a stern lecture, Richard straightens up, and decides to leave behind his life of dealing drugs and gang-banging. However, having never finished school, finding a legit job became more difficult every day, probably more due to his criminal record and his brown skin.

Close to returning to criminal ways, Richard decides to try one last time and manages to convince Lonny Mason (Matt Walsh), the manager at snack manufacturer, Frito-Lay, to give him the janitor job.

But what Richard doesn’t know that that it is at this factory, not only does he find a friend in the chief engineer Clarence C. Baker (Dennis Haysbert), but will also come up with the idea of a new snack, that not just brings some Mexican flavor to Frito-Lay, but also changes everything for him.

It’s an unlikely story, for sure. But director Longoria and the screenplay will have you cheering when the gnarled red snacks finally zip along on an assembly line and you’ll be ready to gleefully fist-bump Montañez. By keeping things light and entertaining director Longoria does a great job by balancing the whole story knowing when the scene had to be serious and when it could take those liberties to have some fun.

The film works as well as it does because at its core this is a story about the human spirit. It is a film about overcoming tough times, to see brighter days ahead, and having confidence and self-belief when others cast doubt in your direction. Richard is shown as a good man who aims for upward mobility, and meets several well-wishers along the way who enable his success.

The film, in addition to being a heart-warming immigrant tale and an inspiring story about the power of representation, is ultimately a fable about perseverance.

Yes, the film is about a snack, but in reality, the product plays only a small part in the story. The beating heart here is the people, ideas, and determination, all centered on a struggling family, which everyone can relate to.

No doubt it works a little too hard to be a cheery entertainer, but it’ll win you over with its relentless, upbeat energy. And to help that, director Longoria unleashes spirited montages, nurtures emotional family moments, and just enough biopic tropes to make us feel slightly more than marginally invested in the underdog story.

It also helps that Richard is played excellently by Jesse Garcia and portrays the every-man role to perfection. Making him easily likable. He is equally well supported by Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert and Tony Shalhoub, who bring their elements to story to keep things interesting.

In other roles, Emilio Rivera, Matt Walsh, Bobby Soto, Brice Gonzalez, Fabian Alomar, Hunter Jones, Jimmy Gonzales, Mario Ponce and Pepe Serna are good. On the whole, ‘Flamin’ Hot’ is a charming feel-good flick that is both familiar and heartwarming.