LOS ANGELES, CA — The Flamin’ Hot film is based upon a true story by Richard Montañez that showcases the uphill battle he faced from a young child to adulthood. The film not only showcases his life story, yet also shows enough of how racist the so-called justice system is to many people of color in their youth. Montañez, played by actor Jesse Garcia, is a good guy that has endured some tough breaks and bad choices when it came to life decisions.
This film is a story that transcends race, gender, and even snacks, yet it’s an American story of grit, determination, and awareness of the racist stereotypical notions that non Anglo-Saxon people face and have to overcome in order to achieve their dreams and make their visions come to fruition.
Just like the Drake song “Started From The Bottom Now We’re Here,” could’ve been based on the strength of Montañez who truly started from the bottom working at Frito-Lay. He began as a maintenance worker accruing the disrespect by his supervisors, yet still determined to not be in the same place years later. He fought through adversity and insecurities that stemmed from his childhood with his father Vacho Montañez (Emilio Rivera) who was physically and verbally abusive and dealing with instatutionalize racism.
With his girlfriend, now wife Judy (Annie Garcia) by his side the two have a family of sons while struggling to make ends meet. Determined to leave the criminal life alone, Montañez was determined to stick it out at Frito-Lay yet has dreams of moving up in the company.
Montañez met Clarence C. Baker (Dennis Haysbert) eaglerly wanting to learn more about machinery inside the Frito-Lay plant and more so wanting to learn from Baker. Although Baker didn’t take too kindly to Montañez in the beginning, the two develop a friendship that would pay dividends in the long run.
Montañez eventually stumbles upon a new idea that would ratify not only the processing plant where he was employed but create a phenomenon across the country. He would ultimately create ‘Flamin Hot Cheetos‘ where he convinced the Frito-Lay president Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub) to take a chance on the product and the Latino community.
It’s an inspirational ending to an incredible film that can serve as a teaching tool to never quit despite how the odds are stacked against you. Montañez went on to become vice president of multicultural sales and community promotions for PepsiCo, Frito-Lay’s parent company, and eventually wrote autobiography, A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie, where the film is based upon.
Longoria’s directorial vision for this film captures every emotion and angle in order to keep your attention on this important story. The comical moments were timely and didn’t oversaturate as they didn’t take away from the film’s theme and fluidity.
The belief in that Judy had in Richard and his dreams even when he didn’t believe in himself or his product, is noble to say the least. Every man should have a ‘Judy’ in their lives, she is truly his ride or die.
“I think probably the greatest challenge was making sure we stayed true to the theme of the movie, which is opportunity is not distributed equally,” Longoria told Variety.
“And when that happens, you have to work twice as hard and twice as long and be twice as good. And you still have to persevere and the story is so many things. It’s rags to riches, it’s American Dream 101, it’s about perseverance, it’s about the underdog.“
Flamin’ Hot debuts June 9 on Disney Plus and Hulu, and distributed by Searchlight Pictures. The film also stars Pepe Serna, TikTok star Brice Gonzalez, and produced by Devon Franklin.
*I give Flamin’ Hot a 8.5/10, definitely worth viewing.
