This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
It pains me to say I would probably be the dipsh*t Caucasian executive in Flamin’ Hot. Every time I eat something remotely spicy, I look like I’m having a heart attack. However, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos have been a staple of elementary school snack trades since I was a kid. Flamin’ Hot gives us the larger than life tale of how a janitor in a Southern California Frito-Lay manufacturing facility might have come up with one of the great snack creations in modern history. Even if it isn’t true, I promise the movie’s still hella fun.
It was a long road to that Frito-Lay factory for Richard Montanez (Jesse Garcia). After an early life of hustling and selling drugs to stay afloat, Richard settled down with his wife Judy (Annie Gonzalez) and started a family. Wanting to go clean, Richard begs for and gets a job as in custodial services at a Frito-Lay manufacturing center in SoCal. Desperate to prove he’s a go getter, Richard apprentices under head machinery expert Clarence C. Baker (Dennis Haysbert), and ambitiously cold calls the CEO Roger Enrico (Tony Shaloub), pitching a spicier flavor profile for all the snack lines to appeal to the underserved Mexican market.
Eva Longoria takes her years of practice in front of the camera to movie behind it for her directorial debut here. It’s a pretty assured debut. Longoria took her time to understand who Richard Montanez is. Because Richard’s a guy prone to embellish and exaggerate as he’s selling something, Eva the director realizes Flamin’ Hot can play fast and loose with Richard’s story. The movie then is entirely filtered through Richard’s point of view, giving the film a silly naivete that keeps the viewer engaged in boring machine workshops. Watching Richard interpret Roger Enrico’s board meetings through someone who’s never been in one is funny as hell, with Longoria using Ant-Man‘s best bit to wonderful comedic effect. All the while, Longoria is laying the ground work for the emotional payoff of a normal Mexican worker getting his chance to prove his moxie: a business sports movie. Using a tried and true formula filtered through a cultural perspective we don’t see very often onscreen? Seems like Eva Longoria was more ready than we thought.
Longoria’s cast helps sell Richard Montanez selling those Flamin’ Hots. Jesse Garcia has been consistently doing great work under the radar for years now. He probably easily saw a lot of parallels between his career and Richard Montanez’s, making it easy for him to find the character quickly. He’s equally good selling the funny and the serious, easily bouncing between the two as the scenes require him to. I didn’t expect to tear up cause I knew where the story was going, but Garcia’s work really made me feel the elation Montanez must have felt when he finally got his shot. Dennis Haysbert is his stoic President Palmer All-State self, conveying excellence and diligence as Richard’s mentor. Annie Gonzalez, Emilio Rivera, and Tony Shaloub do fine work in underwritten parts as well.
The minute I saw a trailer for Flamin’ Hot, I knew it was a really good idea. But good ideas can still fail of the execution is bad. Thankfully, Eva Longoria, Jesse Garcia, and everyone really do their best to tell the tale of Richard Montanez, and that effort results in the Flamin’ Hot quality we see. I actually considered buying some Cheetos after the movie, but acid reflux > a great pitch. Sorry, Richard.