by Jacob Kinman, Contributing Writer
A story of innovation is an age-old trope that I never tire of, especially when it’s from someone you’d never suspect. Who doesn’t love rooting for an underdog? The idea of a person rising from rags to riches is what the United States was founded on. In one case, in none other than the snack industry, a man who rose from a troubled past to being employed at Frito-Lay claims to have come up with possibly one of the greatest innovations that food has ever seen: the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto.
Flamin’ Hot is the story of Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), who took his future into his own hands and made the most out of his opportunities. At the helm is Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut; the film is based on Montañez’s memoir about his improbable rise from a janitor at a Frito-Lay plant to a corporate executive in 10 years. All he had to do was allegedly invent one of the most popular snacks of our time and completely revolutionize how Hispanics are advertised to.
Richard, alongside his childhood sweetheart Judy (Annie Gonzalez), grow up together in 1960s Los Angeles and end up selling drugs in adulthood, until Judy has their first child in the ‘80s, and the two decide to go straight. Through another gang associate, Richard gets a job as a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant, quickly attempts to learn the mechanics of the plant, and eventually is taken as an unofficial apprentice by Clarence Baker (Dennis Haysbert), a veteran machine operator who has extensive knowledge about the plant. Over time, the economy gets worse, which leads to Frito-Lay suffering from layoffs and reduced hours for its employees.
One day at work, Richard watches a video of a corporate-wide message from PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub), where Enrico inspires his company to “think like a CEO;” Richard takes this to heart, and is eventually inspired to make a new spice for Frito-Lay based on the spices used for elote, a Mexican street corn that he often gets with his two sons. After his floor manager, Lonny (Matt Walsh) rejects his idea, Richard sneaks into an office and retrieves Enrico’s phone number to pitch him the idea. Enrico is intrigued, and asks Richard to send him some of the new flavored chips; he then responds positively and sets up a meeting with Richard at the plant. Although the meeting successfully puts Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on the market, the product doesn’t initially sell well, and Richard must recruit all his friends and family to market the Hot Cheetos to the Latino market in the L.A. area. This boosts the sale of the product, leading Richard to be promoted to Director of Multicultural Marketing.
Before I continue, it should be noted that the film’s events are all based on Montañez’s account. A 2021 article in the Los Angeles Times disputes that Richard was ever involved in the initial product testing, and merely took credit for inventing the spice in various speaking engagements. Frito-Lay put out this official statement on the matter in 2018, quoted from the Times article: “We value Richard’s many contributions to our company, especially his insights into Hispanic consumers, but we do not credit the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or any Flamin’ Hot products to him.”
Richard’s story makes for a really fun movie. The entire film is anchored by his narration, which grounds the tone of playfulness that Longoria goes for, almost as a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, “We know this is maybe not how it actually went, so let’s play with it.” There’s even a moment where Richard seemingly starts having a conversation with the Enrico tape that the CEO himself responds to, as if the message was meant just for him. Garcia and Gonzalez work so well together, and have great chemistry as a husband and wife who are determined to make the best of their lives and inspire each other to be the greatest versions of themselves. It’s also interesting to see Shalhoub show up in small roles like this. He plays Enrico as an open and willing executive who matches Richard’s enthusiasm for a new product.
To me, the thing that stands out about this film is what it doesn’t end up doing. It would have been so easy for it to be melodramatic and focus way too much on Montañez’s past, or even for it to go in the direction of addressing the disputes to Richard’s claim. But the direction that Longoria takes instead is a fun version of Richard’s story. Whether it is true or not, this story is a part of Richard Montañez’s real-life identity. This is all perfectly fitting for the Flamin’ Hot snacks — those are the fun snacks. The ones you got your grandma or your dog to try once. The ones that get gooey red dust all over your fingers that you can chase your friends around with. The weird ones you haven’t tried yet, but seem fun, like Funyuns or Mountain Dew.
So maybe Richard Montañez wasn’t quite the innovator he claimed to be. Despite this, his story is one of perseverance, hard work, and enthusiasm that led to his eventual success. In a way, he innovated his own path, and found a way to bring his Hispanic community with him. Flamin’ Hot is a tribute to this notion, and a tribute to the man who had the courage to follow his dreams.
Score: 8/10
Flamin’ Hot is currently available on Hulu and Disney+
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