Earlier this year, Flamin' Hot (2023) told the story of a rags-to-riches or up-from-poverty, biographical tale. It involved a Mexican man who came from a family of migrant laborers who then moved toward a more science or science-based career becoming successful and even famous to a degree. The only problem with Flamin' Hot is that it was later revealed to be a false story. At first, it was marketed as true, but news reporting later exposed the memoir on which the film was based to have been fabricated.
However, the book on which this film is based, that of Reaching for the Stars (2012) by José Moreno Hernández, is true and it can't be disputed because what Hernández accomplished has been well documented with actual video evidence to back him up. We even see said evidence in the credits of this film. Yet, even if Flamin' Hot were true, it doesn't achieve the kind of emotional reaction that this film achieves. The sense of pride and triumph, truly overcoming the odds, is felt so much more strongly in this film by Alejandra Márquez Abella.
Michael Peña (The Martian and Ant-Man) stars as José Moreno Hernández, a Mexican-American from Stockton, California. He's the son of immigrants who worked as farm laborers all throughout the state. When José was growing up, his family moved all around California, working on various pieces of land, picking fruits and vegetables. As a young boy, José became impressed upon seeing the Apollo missions on television. Ever since, it becomes his dream to join NASA and eventually fly into space as an astronaut. Upon graduating from the University of the Pacific, he applies to work at NASA. Unfortunately, he is rejected.
Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) co-stars as Adela, the wife to José and the mother to his children. When she and José first meet, it's at a car dealership where she's working as a sales-woman. She has a very strict and overly protective family. They act tough but it's to shield their intimidation over José being a nerd and in fact pursuing a career in science. Adela is impressed and highly supportive of his career goals. She wants to start her own restaurant. She in fact does so and even though this film is centered around this one particular man, Salazar's character is not an after-thought, which might be due to the director being herself a Latina.
Otherwise, this film is about patience, perseverance and perspicacity. It's about never giving up on one's dream, as long as it's a realistic and achievable goal. Some might see José, especially his origins, and think that becoming an astronaut is not realistic or achievable for him. Some people in the film doubt it. Yet, it should be noted that José wasn't the first Hispanic person or Hispanic-American to become an astronaut and go into space. Technically, the first was Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, a Afro-Cuban who was a cosmonaut aboard the Soyuz 38 in 1980. Rodolfo Neri Vela was the first Mexican in space aboard the STS-61-B in 1985.
By the time the third Latino went into space, that of Franklin Chang-Diaz, in the late 80's and early 90's, José had gone to work for a laboratory in Livermore. Because of José's dedication or obsession about NASA, it's likely he knew about these names, as well as the names that came after Chang-Diaz. This film makes it seem like José was the only Latino at NASA or the only one trying to get into it. There's a narrative that José is the only Latino with his specific background of being a migrant worker himself achieving his goal of going to space. If you look at the backgrounds of the other Hispanic people who went to space, their backgrounds aren't as impoverished as José's background.
One of the most famous Mexican-Americans is César Chávez who Peña played in a 2014 film. Chávez was a farm worker who unionized for migrant workers. The idea that such a person could soar to such heights as outer space is a far better story. Regardless of the optics, Abella lays out the steps that José has to take to get there in a way that was effective and impactful. It was perhaps Peña and Salazar's performances or just the sheer weight of the story itself as Abella puts it, but it was worked to move me to tears.
Rated PG for thematic elements and language.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 2 mins.
Available on Amazon Prime.