Flamin' Hot is a biographical comedy-drama. It is an adaptation of A Boy, A Burrito and A Cookie: from Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez and adapts stories from him and his wife Judy.
Synopsis[]
Flamin' Hot is the story of Richard Montañez, the Frito-Lay janitor who claimed to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
Plot[]
In Southern California, 1966, Richard Montañez grew up as a hard working child with his strict father and supportive grandfather. He met his future wife Judy in school where he began selling burritos to the other children. He is arrested at a young age when nobody believed that he made his money this way. As an adult, Richard and Judy lived their lives as hoodlums, selling drugs, but turned their life around once Judy got pregnant with their first child. A second child later, Richard and his family begin struggling trying to make ends meet as he searches for work. He eventually turns to his friend, and fellow former hoodlum, Tony Romero, who helps him get a job at Frito-Lay. Despite lying on his resumé, floor head Lonny Mason hires him.
Richard begins paying attention to all the nuances of the factory and starts pursuing engineer maintenance leader Clarence C. Baker to help with teaching him about the machines. Despite some reluctance, Baker agrees and teaches Richard how to operate all the machinery in the factory. Unfortunately, the Reagan administration begins to severely affect low level paying jobs and Frito-Lay's stocks begin to go down. This eventually results in some of the workers getting laid off. Frito-Lay CEO Roger Enrico puts a video out to the workers which is viewed by Richard and gets the inspiration to "think like a CEO".
After picking up his kids from school, Richard takes them out for elotes (Mexican street corn). Upon noticing that his youngest son Steven likes the spicy flavor, despite it bothering him, he realizes that the way to save Frito-Lay is to pitch to the Latino market. He convinces Baker and the rest of his coworkers to let him take some unflavored Cheetos home, but Judy offers that he talk to his father Vacho first about a job. Vacho ends up belittling Richard's plans, causing Judy to support Richard even more. The Montañezes work tirelessly trying to find the perfect spicy flavor for Cheetos, eventually getting the right concoction. Richard attempts to pitch his idea to Lonny, but he turns him down, forcing him to sneak in and copy Enrico's phone number.
Richard manages to get through to Enrico who, while perplexed over being called by a janitor, is intrigued to learn that he saw his video and asks that he send his flavored Cheetos. He tastes them and is immediately hooked, setting up a meeting at the factory right away. While Lonny is upset with Richard, he prepares himself for the pitch, finally getting the approval of his father to back him up. Richard proceeds to speak from the heart and his pitch his accepted with the Flamin' Hot Cheetos being put into production. While this results in more jobs, the new flavor is not flying off the shelves. Disappointed, Richard's children point out that there is no advertisements for the flavor. Richard returns to work and orders everyone to use their skills to sell the new flavor straight from the street. The tactic works and Enrico calls to ask that the factory produce an even bigger order.
While Baker gets the promotion he always desired, Richard is still a janitor, though Baker gives him some support. Lonny asks Richard to clean upstairs, only to find Enrico who tells him that he understands his struggles growing up, before revealing that he has been promoted to head of international marketing. Richard is applauded by all his coworkers for his success and he happily calls Judy to tell her the good news.
The end titles reveal that Richard retired from the company after 45 years and that he and Judy are still together.
Cast[]
- Jesse Garcia as Richard Montañez
- Carlos Sanchez as Young Richard
- Annie Gonzalez as Judy Montañez
- Jayde Martinez as Young Judy
- Emilio Rivera as Vacho Montañez
- Vanessa Martinez as Concha Montañez
- Dennis Haysbert as Clarence C. Baker
- Tony Shalhoub as Roger Enrico
- Pepe Serna as Abuelito
- Bobby Soto as Tony Romero
- Jimmy Gonzales as Hector Morales
- Matt Walsh as Lonny Mason
- Hunter Jones as Lucky Montañez
- Carlos Solorzano as Young Lucky
- Brice Gonzalez as Steven Montañez
- Fabian Alomar as Pablito
- Mario Ponce as Diego
- Eric Marq as Nacho
- Alejandro Montoya Marín as Alejandro
- Howard Ferguson Jr. as Al Carey
- Peter Diseth as James Finley
- Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Enrico's Secretary Patti
- Zach Rose as Wade Carson
Production[]
The film was announced in August 2019 with Eva Longoria attached as director. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Jesse Garcia was cast as Richard Montañez with Annie Gonzalez cast as his wife, Judy.[1] By 2021, production had already been completed.[2]
It was later announced that Flamin' Hot would be released simultaneously on both Disney+ and Hulu, after having its premiere at SXSW.[3]
Trivia[]
- This marks the first film to debut simultaneously on both Disney+ and Hulu.
- During the production for the film, an investigation into Richard Montañez's claim of being the inventor of the Flamin' Hot brand of Cheetos was called into question. While he did start off as a janitor before moving up to be a top level executive, Frito-Lay has denied that Montañez came up with the flavor, though they still consider him a valued member of the company.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Eva Longoria To Direct Cheetos Movie ‘Flamin’ Hot’ For Fox Searchlight & Franklin Entertainment". Deadline (August 26, 2019).
- ↑ "Coen Brothers, Eva Longoria & Steven Soderbergh Films Among 22 Features Allocated CA Tax Credits". Deadline (March 1, 2021).
- ↑ "Eva Longoria’s ‘Flamin’ Hot’ Is First Feature To Hit Both Hulu & Disney+ In Streaming Debut". Deadline (March 20, 2023).
External links[]
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