There have been a variety of recent films which explore the history of products and brands, such as Air, Blackberry, and Tetris. There’s even going to be a Pop-Tart movie directed by Jerry Seinfeld. And now there is Flamin’ Hot, which at first glance, ostensibly details the invention of the spicy Cheeto. However, Flamin’ Hot differentiates itself from the aforementioned films by grounding the story in one person and celebrating Mexican and Mexican-American culture, as well as working class sensibilities.
The story of Richard Montañezis beloved by many in the Mexican-American community, and for good reason. It’s inspiring to think that a custodian who faced discrimination and indifference could, with the help of his wify Judy, rise up from poverty to become a leading executive of the Frito-Lay corporation. The Flamin’ Hot Cheeto itself, then, becomes a kind of spicy symbol for the (Mexican) American Dream, a cheesy totem of sorts which can inspire anyone.
It’s the feature directorial debut from Eva Longoria, co-produced by DeVon Franklin, and will be streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Aside from a great supporting cast which includes Tony Shalhoub, Dennis Haysbert, and Matt Walsh, Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez lead the film as Richard and Judy Montañez.They all spoke with MovieWeb about the film, what it celebrates, and the story behind it.
Longoria has been shining a light on her Mexican-American community and history in recent years with great projects like Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It and Searching for Mexico. Flamin’ Hot is the natural continuation of this, and Longoria’s great career as a whole; as such, she was very passionate about it, and knew she’d be great to helm the film.
“When I got hired, I knew my superpower would be knowing my community,” said Longoria. She explained:
So I feel like this is an opportunity to show the world the Mexican American community in a way they’ve never seen it, not villainized, not demonize,, not attacked. We’re not Narcos. We’re so much more than that. And this was a love letter to the Latino community, even the Cholos and the gangbangers are humanized, and complex, and family-oriented.”
“Richard’s confrontation with racism and classism is handled with grace and dignity,” continued Longoria. “So I really felt like wow, we have an opportunity to show the world who we are. You know, the media really projects the image out to the rest of the world and defines a lot of cultures. And so the fact that we have an opportunity to do that with this movie was very exciting.”
DeVon Franklin on Finding Inspiration in Flamin’ Hot
DeVon Franklin had a similar passion for Flamin’ Hot, though he was coming from a different direction. The producer behind some of the most beloved faith-based films of recent years, Franklin is devoted to inspiring and uplifting people though cinema. “For me, my passion is about inspiration. You know, it’s like I got into Hollywood to make inspirational films,” said Franklin. He elaborated:
My father died when I was nine years old, of a heart attack when he was 36. And it was really entertainment and church that kind of became my therapy. And so I was like, ‘Man, I want to be a part of entertainment, to uplift people, to help people.’ And so, you know, this story and the passion mount around inspiration. They’re just connected, and it made a lot of sense.
Is Flamin’ Hot Based on a True Story?
Richard Montañez is an icon of sorts in the Mexican-American community for the incredible rags-to-riches story he has told about creating the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos alongside his wife, Judy.
After development of Flamin’ Hot began, though, The L.A. Times released a negative expose titled “The Man Who Didn’t Invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.” Through interviews with Frito-Lay executives and employees, along with some exhaustive research, the ultimate verdict was that Montañez has exaggerated the story, and that the product existed before he began speaking about it.
How much does the truth actually matter here? The workaround of Flamin’ Hot is that the film is less a Ken Burns documentary than it is an emotional biography, if you will. It’s less about what happened, and more about how Richard perceives and experiences what happened, because that’s one of the joys of cinema — subjectivization and perspective.
“This is 1,000% the truth of Richard Montañez, and he was very involved,” explained Longoria. “You know, he has two memoirs. He has two books. He’s worked at Pepsi for 42 years, like, we have a lot of material to go off of. And then sitting with him, he’s just a wealth of information and knowledge and sound bites, and he’s just so funny. He has a really witty, charming tone.” She continued:
And so the minute I sat with him, I was like, I want the movie to be in his POV. It’s got to be from his POV. I want to be in his mind. He had all these stories, like he thought a boardroom was a roomful of boards […] And that’s probably what makes the movie most entertaining is we are in Richard’s head 100% of the time.
Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez Spice Up Flamin’ Hot
Jesse Garcia is incredible as Richard, containing a contagious curiosity and vibrant joy that is maybe even more inspiring than the story itself. It’s a magnetic performance that defines the word ‘irresistible,’ and he totally gets Longoria’s concept of diving deep into Richard’s head and not worrying about objectivity as much as subjective experience.
“Well, this is Richard’s story about Richard’s life, through his eyes, right?” explained Garcia. “And as you see, there are fantasy elements in it, there’s a lot of comedy, there are the relationships between the family, and Clarence, and the guys that he works with. So I think there’s an element of it that has to be entertaining as well. You know what I mean? We didn’t shoot a documentary, you know, and our primary responsibility was to tell his story and Judy’s story.”
Speaking of Judy, Gonzalez is heartwarming and delightful as a supportive wife despite the natural frustrations that are birthed from struggle and strive. Her husband is a dreamer, and she keeps him comfortable while he dreams, even if sometimes it feels like she should wake him up because things are getting difficult. But they believe in each other, resulting in an unshakable chemistry.
A lot of that is surely thanks to writers Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez, but also to the actors’ commitment and their time spent with their real-life counterparts.
“Most of it was on the page, so it wasn’t too difficult. I did sit down with Richard and Judy, and Judy by herself, to make sure that I did authenticate it as much as possible. But it was all there for us,” said Gonzalez.
“Yeah. I mean, there was some improvisation on set,” added Garcia, “to kind of make sure if something wasn’t working. But it was there. Linda’s a fantastic writer and under Eva’s direction it was great. But yeah, we both met with Richard and Judy and got our input from them, but it was a lot of it was on the page.”
The result? A film that studies the hierarchies of capitalism, sure, but is more interested in celebrating culture and subjectivizing an inspirational story to colorful effect. As Garcia said:
I think this is one of those special movies where you get everything you want out of a movie, and it doesn’t matter who you are. I think everyone can relate to the story.
“I think it’s an amalgamation of things,” added Gonzalez. “I think it transcends culture, gender, and age, you know, it’s cross generational. It’s just a beautiful story that I think everybody can relate to.”
Flamin’ Hot will be released on June 9, 2023, by Hulu and Disney+.
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