Studio Movie Grill will reopen its newest location, SMG Chisholm Trail in Fort Worth, sometime in fall 2021, more than a year after the theater was completed in July 2020 as the anchor to The Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch.
Originally announced in March 2020 just before the start of the pandemic, the theater — located at 5413 Sierra Springs Ln., at the southeast corner of Chisholm Trail Parkway and McPherson Boulevard — opened in August 2020 before closing again in January 2021 due to the lack of new movie releases, the company says.
Now that movies are being released on a regular basis again, they say, audiences will finally have a chance to experience all of the amenities at the new theater, which features 12 screens and over 1,200 luxury leather recliners. As Studio Movie Grill was the originator of the dine-in theater idea, moviegoers will be offered the same in-theater dining experience available at all other locations.
The theater is one of Studio Movie Grill's newer prototypes, featuring a whole new bar design, lowered ceilings, controlled lighting levels, and new kitchen designed for speed and efficiency, time, and motion. It also includes updated auditorium seating as well as other modern furniture, fixtures, equipment touchpoints, and design features.
It is the first location in Fort Worth; there are two other Tarrant County locations in Arlington. All other local Studio Movie Grill locations have already reopened.
The new theater features a new bar design and modern furniture.
Photo courtesy of Studio Movie Grill
The new theater features a new bar design and modern furniture.
In this Hollywood era of franchises, finding one to call their own is a priority for many movie stars. Over 30 years into his career, Ben Affleck had yet to find one; he did star as Batman in multiple movies, but that role has been interchangeable. He seemed to get a prime action hero role with 2016’s The Accountant, but somehow it’s taken nine years for The Accountant 2 to come out.
Affleck’s character of Christian Wolff is a high-functioning autistic man whose abilities to quickly and efficiently comb through mounds of data are matched only by his fighting skills. When Ray King (J.K. Simmons), a former Treasury agent who had previously hunted Christian, is murdered, King’s replacement, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), calls on Christian to help figure out what happened and track down his killer.
The search quickly finds multiple criminal conspiracies, including a hitman ring, a scheme to abduct migrants, and more. Naturally, Wolff claims to need help in the endeavor, so his mercenary brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) soon joins in on the quest. The two brothers work together to figure out the puzzle while also stopping to have some fun every now and then.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Bill Dubuque (both returning from the original), the film feels like it is missing many connective scenes. It often starts down one road and seems to be making good progress when it suddenly veers into another storytelling lane with no explanation. This happens multiple times throughout the film, to the point that it becomes almost impossible to tell what the main story is supposed to be.
In the first film, the oddity of having an autistic math genius also being a world-class marksman and fighter somehow made sense. This film leans much more into Christian’s physical skills, with the autistic side of things showing up in his (mostly) emotionless demeanor. While that works to a certain degree, the choppiness of the story undercuts the character traits that Affleck does his best to impart.
The best examples of the messiness of the film come in the multiple scenes that serve as nothing more than comic relief, with not even an attempt at connecting them to the main plot, such as it is. Two of them involve Christian proving himself to be a ladies man despite his lack of conversational skills, both of which fall flat as they seem to be making fun of his autism rather than highlighting positive aspects of it. Each of the comic scenes is so disparate in tone from the rest of the film that they essentially bring the story to a screeching halt.
Affleck is fine in the part, although he’s much better when Christian turns toward action hero mode than when he has to display the character’s autistic traits. Bernthal is great at being an over-the-top macho guy, and he gets to indulge that side of him throughout the film. Addai-Robinson is disserved by a role that doesn’t give her character any autonomy despite her high-powered position.
Affleck’s career has been one of the most up-and-down ones of any supposed A-list actor, and The Accountant 2 marks another down moment for him. He may have finally gotten his first sequel for a film in which he’s the main character, but don’t expect there to be a third installment.
