My Review of "Flaming Hot"

Flaming Hot is a direct to streaming biopic that came out in 2023. I've heard about the story of Richard Montañez but I didn't know they made a movie out of it. Come to think of it, his story totally makes sense for a movie. It's so out there that people won't believe it's true.

It all starts out with the young Richard in the field working with his family. He doesn't have a care in the world but his family has instilled a strong self of pride in his family name. This all gets tested when he finally goes to public school. You have to realize that he had grown up in Southern California in the 60s.

These were not tolerant times and the area was not very kind to Mexican immigrants. We start to see adversity hit him at all angles since he was young. Racism at school questioned the pride of his own heritage. A downtrodden man, his father, had regularly beat him when he was young as well.

The only things he had going for him was his ingenuity, drive and a lovely young girl by the name of Judy. We see from the very beginning that he seemed to be able to turn lemons to lemonade by turning people's perceptions into his reality. It would have been nice to see more examples of his selling techniques and entrepreneurship at a young age though.

Still things kept hitting him at different angles throughout his life. His constant rock, Judy, being at his side for all of these adversities. The real big story of this movie is how Richard was able to convince the president of Frito-Lay to listen to him. He was only working as a lowly janitor and was able to single handedly save the corporation that he was working for.

For many reasons that's quite a crazy concept. He was far ahead of his time and understood what the business needed despite his lack of education or experience. Some people just have it and some don't. This movie is a true inspirational story.

How can a guy under such dire circumstances rise above it all? If there ever was a story about the American dream this movie is probably the definitive story. It kind of makes you wonder sometimes about the world we live in today. Richard lived in a time that was way more intolerant than the world we live in today and was able to make his voice be heard. There was no violence or protest either. He was able to use his ambition and sheer will to make things happen.

Though you can kind of argue that communities and people aren't like they were back in the day. I did get a sense that community and family are a way bigger aspect of life back in the day than it is today. That support he got from his family and friends back in the day are a far cry from what people would get today. That support is a big influence in the way we can push ourselves. I'm not sure if people would get the same push as they did today. Maybe people would share things on social media but they wouldn't physically go out and help each other. It made me think of the stark differences in our social morality and how much we actually make an effort to help each other.

To top off the thought process I had a great time with this one because of the fun the cast brought to their characters. Although the acting wasn't the tightest each one of them had a sense of charisma that kept my eyes glued to them. There's a wholesomeness that comes with this whole movie because of it. I guess it's kind of the family aspect of the movie and how the community eventually feels like an extended family for Richard.

Overall, this is a really fun movie that I think anyone can really get into. It's a crazy story that not a lot of people will believe to be true but apparently it is. Of course there's probably some liberties that they took but it was done in a believable manner. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. It is definitely worth recommending to everyone.