Flamin' Hot

There's a lot of buzz around whether Flamin' Hot tells a true story or not, but for me the accuracy doesn't really matter all that much. It's still a nice movie either way, albeit commercial (and it's not a documentary, c'mon).

Linda Yvette Chávez tells the tale of Flamin' Hot Cheetos through the lense of Richard Montañez's life. The plot generally surrounds his personal struggles in his career and subsequently the development and marketing of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. By the end you are left with a inspiring commentary about how no one is defined by a title. There's some good jokes sprinkled in, too.

Also, the movie does it's job as an ad well, so maybe have some Flamin' Hot Cheetos on hand.

I needed to watch a feel-good, and it does its job as well as could be expected. Unfortunately, what I only discovered afterwards was that although the movie aspires to be a true story of going from being the underdog to the top, the entire thing is a fabrication, as documented by The Los Angeles Times. Montañes has publicly changed important details of the story over his lifetime, and even PepsiCo itself disputes that he had anything to do with Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Most importantly, Enrico was not even with the company at the time this happened, and Montañes was actually promoted to a machinist shortly after starting as a janitor.

Flamin' Hot is a quintessential underdog story reaffirming the American dream to an almost cynical degree, undermined by the sheer amount of liberties taken with the true story it's loosely based on and counterbalanced by a winning charm that's hard to resist. Like most buyopics it essentially acts as a commercial for the product it's about but it cares more about one person's story which is why it works as well as it does.

Jesse Garcia gives a great lead performance with a boundless enthusiasm making him endlessly likeable and someone who's easy to root for. He's a consistent presence since he's narrating the film as well as being in almost every scene and it's a testament to his performance that he is always loveable. It's definitely his film however, there are still a couple of nice supporting turns from Annie Gonzalez and Dennis Haysbert.

Eva Longoria's direction is really impressive because there's so much energy that she's able to sustain for the entirety of the film with inventive montages and an ability to cover a lot of time in a speedy yet breezy fashion. It feels like its going to run out of steam eventually and it never does, only toning it down when needed for a more emotional scene. Marcelo Zarvos' score is very schmaltzy which works thanks to the overall warmth.

Did I love this movie ? Yes . I love a good underdog , I love chips , I love Mexican culture , I love Spanish , I love spicy food , I love a strong female character BUT!

Too many inaccuracies to make it work . If this had been all true - easy 9-10. Even following in his own story they took too many liberties and that bothers me . I know it is disputed and honestly I want to believe this guy that it is all legit - and maybe it is BUT prove it some way or at least make the timeline make sense in terms of documented events at the company .

Truth aside - it was funny , entertaining , happy and inspiring .

Worth the watch but still too mad about the fact check situation to give it a higher score .

While the story presented in the movie may not be entirely true, it doesn't diminish the fact that it is an enjoyable film to watch. Frito-Lay, through a spokesperson, disputed Richard Montañez's claim and stated that he was not involved in creating the product line in question, according to an internal investigation. However, it is true that Montañez did rise from a floor-level position to a marketing executive at Frito-Lay and was involved in pitching new products, including Flamin' Hot Popcorn in 1994. Despite the lack of factual accuracy, screenwriter Lewis Colick mentioned that enough of the story was true. PepsiCo released a statement supporting Montañez's contributions and expressed their concern about the strain on their friendship with him and the Latino community due to the debunking of his story. Montañez retired from PepsiCo in March 2019 during an internal investigation. In the end, the movie offers outstanding acting, a compelling storyline (albeit fictional), and portrays Richard Montañez as the hero. The only mistake they made is telling us it is a true story. But the movie is fun to watch, therefore a 7/10. Watch or skip? Depends. If you like movies, yes. If it needs to be based on a true story to get you going, No.