Flamin' Hot (2023) Review

Despite the controversy of this sensational biopic, Flamin’ hot has an iconic acronym that I’ll remember for the rest of my life, which is PhD. If Tate Brothers defines PhD as pimpin' hoes degree, in this Flamin’ Hot PhD was redefined as Poor, Hungry and Determined. That exact acronym is something I personally could relate to and it was the spirit that got the main character, who as a janitor climbed the ladder of the American dream. But, there was more than the story of a janitor, it was also the story about culture and how a culture shapes an identity in multicultural places like the US.

As though the main culture of this film is based on the mexican community but it was also touching the subculture of Cholo which is characterized with its distinct style and obsession with flanel. I was personally so engrossed in this subculture back in the day by watching youtuber like SUPEReeeGO who has been making content about Cholo subculture for more than 11 years. So, watching it was personally hilarious and I could understand the things that the character do as a cholo and chola. And though at first, I was hesitant that Flamin’ hot like many other Hollywood productions would flop, it was surprisingly good. After all, Flamin Hot is one of those feel-good movies.

The story follows the life of Richard Montañez, a son from a Mexican migrant who works at a farm in the United States. As a kid, while his grandpa taught him how to tie a knot, his grandpa told him that his name is Montañez, or rather that he was part of Montanez. The grandpa also said that if he can show what a Montañez can do, other people can’t tell them nothing. While at the same time, Montanez grew up with an alcoholic and abusive father who later made a remark about it. As a kid, Montanze was already business savvy and a promising marketer. He could sell things even to his bullies however, one time when he was at the store trying to buy chocolate for Judy, who later became his wife, he was arrested by police. He was accused of stealing money and they couldn’t believe that a little mexican boy would have made a lot to buy chocolate. From there, teenage Montañez was part of local gangs and was selling drugs and got into fights with other cholos in the hood. But eventually, as Judy got pregnant with their first kid and how he was almost arrested, Montañez started to think about how to find a proper job. Eventually with the help of his former friend, he got a job as a janitor at a subsidiary company of PepsiCo, Frito lay. Soon, Montañez learned that it was like his highschool where people had their own hierarchy . Montañez along with the others, especially as a janitor, was on the lowest of the low. Montañez was still trying to be the machinist but at the same time, when the crisis hit the US economy, some of his friends were laid off and he got inspired after watching a corporate video from the CEO who made a remark, think like a CEO. Then, as he was picking up his kids from school, they went out to get elotes, a corn with spicy coating. The spiciciness was good and made his kid crave more. He saw that spicy was an opportunity especially among the Hispanic community. Shortly after, he was trying to pitch his idea to Enrico and though the idea was met with resistance from the others, Enrico was open to it and they began producing Flamin Hot products. Yet the fight didn’t stop there.

When I saw the poster of this movie, I wasn’t entirely convinced. Not to mention, I feel like it was overhyped. But well, after giving it a try, the movie was indeed a feel-good one. It was an American dream from a hispanic perspective. But one thing that was striking to me was how Montañez was good at seeing opportunities, especially to the growing number of Hispanic at the time. He knows that to reach those people was the matter of knowing the people which something Montañez was good at. The business pitch scene was intriguing as though he tried to adjust with the other gentlemen in the room, he eventually became himself and managed to convince others of this idea. I guess that’s another lesson while pitching ideas, just be yourself. I have nothing to say about the characters as I’ve not seen a lot of movies by them and can’t really make a good comparison. Additionally, just a simple thing that made me wonder was how in this film, which was directed by Eva Longoria, who I thought would be a lot more understanding of how the portrayal of Mexicans was still using yellow filters despite it wasn’t filmed in Mexico.

Last but not least, you enjoy a feel-good, personal development biopic, this one's for you. Although in my dictionary, this will be rated around 6 out of 10. I do quite enjoy the story, the exploration of the cholo subculture and the comedic screenwriting that made me laughed out loud especially when the main character starts speaking like a cholo. But I certainly feel like this movie could've been way better in terms of delivery.