'Flamin’ Hot' Gives Refreshing Hispanic Representation In Sadly Underwhelming Biopic
(REVIEW) “Flamin’ Hot” gives welcome representation to true-life Hispanic stories and faith, but undermines the power of the story through constant lecturing.
The movie follows the real life Richard Montanez, the son of Mexican immigrants, who overcomes racism and hardship to go from the janitor at a Frito Lays factory to becoming the inventor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and head of multicultural marketing at the company. The movie is directed by actress and producer Eva Longoria and will premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on June 9.
The movie definitely has stuff to offer families who are looking for a safe, feel-good inspirational biopic. Obviously, the real-life story (unless, of course, the new allegations that the story is made up turn out to be true) is a truly inspiring one. We get to see Richard overcome injustice and his own character flaws to succeed and be recognized for that success. The movie hits all the beats you want it to: It’s heartwarming when it needs to be, funny when it needs to be, and heartbreaking when it needs to be.
It also gives some long overdue love to Hispanic faith. Hispanic Americans are a highly religious American community, far more than White Americans, even though — like many faith groups in America —the religious affiliated are shrinking. And yet, most movies that come out trying to represent this group, such as “In The Heights” and “West Side Story” (and I will bet anything this year’s “Transformers: Beast Wars” and “Blue Beetle”), more or less erase or deeply minimize that part of their identity.
But “Flamin’ Hot” portrays faith as a central part of Richard’s life and depicts his faith as real and important. Whether it’s his abusive father clinging to faith to cover up his previous alcoholism, the strength that his wife gains from her faith, or Richard eventually acknowledging God’s hand in the good that has happened to them and praying together with his wife, Richard’s faith matters.
Unfortunately, the movie continually undermines itself by lecturing the story at us rather than showing it. Richard’s tedious and never-ending narration distracts from what we’re watching and takes us out of the moment (even though 97% of what he’s describing we can clearly see happening in front of us!), and both the narration and the characters’ constant speeches hit us over the head with the messages they want us to get out of the movie, from racism to Reaganomics to representation to believing in yourself. This lecturing is so obnoxious and distracting it sucks most of the air out of otherwise deeply affecting scenes.
Viewers looking for a feel-good inspirational drama and some long-overdue representation of Hispanic success and faith will definitely have things to be happy about here. If only they’d trusted their story enough to let it speak for itself, what it had to say would have stuck to the teeth better.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York City. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.com, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers.