Written by Linda Yvette Chávez and Lewis Colick, it is based on the memoir A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez, who claims to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
At the 96th Academy Awards, Flamin' Hot received a nomination for Best Original Song for “The Fire Inside” written by Diane Warren, but lost to “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie.
Richard begins paying attention to all the nuances of the factory and starts pursuing engineer maintenance leader Clarence C. Baker to teach him about the machines.
Noticing that his youngest son Steven likes the spicy flavor, saying it "burns good", he realizes that the way to save Frito-Lay is to pitch the brand to the Latino market.
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 Director of Multicultural Marketing.
[1] Prior to the announcement, in April 2019, Franklin Entertainment was informed by Frito-Lay that Montañez's account of inventing Flamin' Hot Cheetos was disputed after an internal investigation had been prompted the previous year, but the producers elected to continue with the original premise.
[5][6] Though Flamin' Hot is advertised as a true story,[7][8][9] the authenticity of Montañez's account became doubtful after the Los Angeles Times published an in-depth article scrutinizing his claim,[2] with later corroboration by NPR.
[10] As portrayed in the movie, Montañez claims to have been encouraged by Roger Enrico's "think like a CEO" message and invented the Flamin' Hot seasoning with his wife Judy as a DIY project, taking home unflavored Cheetos in garbage bags to experiment with when the machine broke and left them unseasoned.
He called Enrico, pitching his idea for a product aimed at Latinos, and arranged a sales presentation where he handed out homemade bags sealed with a clothing iron and hand-drawn logos.
[14] In reality, the United States experienced a recession in the early 1980s that began prior to the 1980 presidential election, followed by consistent economic growth and decreasing unemployment until July 1990.
[8] Montañez initially responded to the controversy by claiming he was pushed out of development before the test markets and his contributions were not documented due to his low level position at the time.
"[15] The week of the movie's release, Variety published an article where Montañez stated, "I've got letters, notes, and presentations, proving their faith in me and my creation," but did not make any documentation public.
President Joe Biden and director Eva Longoria, a notable Democrat campaigner, delivered remarks at the event, promoting it as the first White House screening of a movie focused on Hispanic characters.
[33][28] Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, calculated that Flamin' Hot was the seventh most-streamed film in the U.S. during the week of June 11, 2023.
It mostly works because Garcia, Gonzalez and Longoria agree on a poignant, yet not sanctimonious approach that crystallizes the specific fortitude of mining hope from dire struggle.
"[43] Brian Lowry of CNN said that Eva Longoria did an "admirable job of wringing as much mileage as she can out of this underdog tale," and wrote, "Playfully presented, it's the kind of mildly tasty cinematic snack that doesn't exactly stick to your ribs.
"[44] John Nugent of Empire gave the film a grade of three out of five stars, praised the performances of Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez, and complimented Eva Longoria's direction.
[45] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave Flamin' Hot a grade of three out of five stars, complimented the chemistry between Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzales, and stated that the film " keep its audience on their toes" owing to Eva Longoria.
Its focus on the 'Si, se puede ... trabajar y ganar dinero' mantra dulls the flavors of what makes the movie enjoyable: the family at the center of Richard's drive to survive.