Flamin’ Hot
A petty crook from East Los Angeles attempts to go straight in Eva Longoria’s stranger-than-fiction directorial debut.
Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia) has an idea
We learn something every day. Apparently, “the most popular snack the world has ever seen” is called Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. That is according to Richard Montañez, our unreliable narrator, whose voice-over leads us into his hard-luck story of rags-to-chillis – very hot chillis. The film, a zippy, spicy story of entrepreneurial chutzpah, is more corn than Air but has a certain, broad, clichéd appeal. Flamin’ Hot is also notable for marking the directorial debut of Eva Longoria, who poses little threat of trespassing onto the sacred troika of the Oscar-winning Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. There’s nary a fresh idea thrown into the mix here, although some flashy editing and the twang of guitar and bleat of brass hustles the action along nicely.
Jesse Garcia, last seen as a vicious kidnapper in Niki Caro's The Mother, plays Richard Montañez, a struggling family man desperate to find honest work in order to support his wife, Judy (Annie Gonzalez), and child. His gangster days are behind him but finding respectable employment on the racist streets of 1980s’ East Los Angeles proves an uphill struggle. Eventually, in spite of his ethnicity, he talks his way into the post of janitor and toilet cleaner at the San Bernardino branch of Frito-Lay. Garcia’s voice-over somewhat conflicts with that of his true-life character which, in turn, has proven to conflict with the recorded truth. Be that as it may, the buoyant tone of the film, sweeping all tropes before it, allows little time for us to scrutinize its implausibility too closely.
As Richard and Judy, Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez make agreeable enough protagonists, although the true star of the film is Dennis Haysbert as Frito-Lay’s diligent and shrewd plant engineer Clarence C. Baker. He is Morgan Freeman’s Red to Garcia’s Andy Dufresne – initially wary, but eventually supportive of the janitor’s wild brainwaves. Without spoiling the plot – which is more or less laid out in the opening minutes – Montañez is the man responsible for the success of the titular Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. He sees a gap in the market and has to find a way to marry the corporate narrow mindedness of Frito-Lay with the enormous potential of the Hispanic market. For those unfamiliar with the gum-numbing snacks, the Cheetos of the title are basically corn chips with an almighty Mexican kick. They’ve been flying off the shelves since 1989 when Lynne Greenfield invented them, or Montañez, if you prefer this version, based on his memoir A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive. Longoria’s film is pretty cheesy, but it has enough good-natured charm to appeal to an undemanding audience.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, Emilio Rivera, Tony Shalhoub, Pepe Serna, Bobby Soto, Jimmy Gonzales, Matt Walsh, Vanessa Martinez, Carlos Sanchez, Brice Gonzalez, Jayde Martinez, Stephanie Jones.
Dir Eva Longoria, Pro DeVon Franklin, Screenplay Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez, from the memoir A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez, Ph Federico Cantini, Pro Des Cabot McMullen and Brandon Mendez, Ed Liza D. Espinas and Kayla Emter, Music Marcelo Zarvos, Costumes Elaine Montalvo.
Searchlight Pictures/Franklin Entertainment-Disney+.
98 mins. USA. 2022. UK and US Rel: 9 June 2023. Cert. 12A.
