A revolutionary, British dart-focused restaurant/bar/event venue is flying into a buzzy Houston mixed-use development. The bustling Allen Parkway corridor project Regent Square will welcome Flight Club, the immersive pub making waves in the U.K. and here in the U.S.
This is the first Texas Flight Club outpost, set to open late 2021. (The venue boasts a popular presence in Chicago.)
Visitors should expect a decidedly retro Brit vibe, with plush booths, semi-private gaming areas, vibrant vintage signage and decor, and a ubiquitous red phone booth in an 8,500-square-foot space.
Press materials promise a “unique social gaming experience through specially designed technology and spacious set-up,” as well as an eclectic bar program led by award-winning Peter Vestinos, plus a menu curated by acclaimed Chicago Chef Rich Gresh.
Oh, and the darts and games. Pub games and darts are central here; the space can accommodate groups of six to 400. More than 160 million darts have been thrown by some 2 million people globally since the venue launched in October 2015, per the company.
“Houston is an incredibly diverse city with vibrant food and drink scene–we are so thrilled that our first Texas location will be in this market,” said Alan Cichon, U.S. president of ownership company, State of Play. “Houston has shown the world time and time again how resilient it is, and we cannot wait to be a part of the fabric that makes up the Houston culture.”
Adding a little note that he gets it, Cichon noted, “everything is bigger in Texas, including our concept.”
Flight Club promises a vibrant, festive atmosphere.
Photo courtesy of Flight Club
Flight Club promises a vibrant, festive atmosphere.
For most of the 21st century, and especially the last 15 years, Tom Cruise has been a “movie star” rather than an “actor.” That’s not to say he’s a bad actor, but rather that his focus has been on making blockbuster movies where his unique ability to go all-in on action supersedes any need for introspection. Now perhaps past his action movie days, he’s giving full-on acting another try in Digger.
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil baron whose current project is drilling for oil in Greenland. Turns out that’s a bad idea in multiple ways, most significantly when an explosion at the site manages to calve an ice shelf five times the size of Boston. That humongous piece of ice then starts on an inevitable collision course with mainland Europe, where it is predicted that there will be hundreds of thousands of deaths and uncountable property damage from the ensuing tsunami.
That sounds bleak, and it is, but the film plays the scenario for laughs thanks to over-the-top characters like Digger, his sister Emma (Sandra Hüller), U.S. President Compson (John Goodman), and the unnamed Vice President (Michael Stuhlbarg). As those people and others try to spin the disaster of epic proportions, others like the scientist Ganesh (Riz Ahmed) try to get the leaders to see reason or to take responsibility for their actions.
Written and directed by Alejandro Iñárritu and co-written by three others, the film has more than a few surprises in store, including one big one that will go unspoiled here. Suffice it to say that for anyone who might be put off by how Cruise (who seems to be channeling his Les Grossman character from Tropic Thunder) and others are acting in the trailers for the film may change their minds about the performances after actually having seen the complete product.
What can be said is that the film is a wild, wacky, and occasionally disorienting experience that also doubles as a cogent critique of the governments and corporations responsible for climate change and unchecked capitalism. Digger is a motormouth who often cuts off people with relevant information to impart, having already determined that he knows all he needs to know about a certain topic. He’s stuck in his ways in many respects, including trying to keep alive a 20-year-old cat that clearly wants to die.
Once the full scope of the story is revealed, it becomes easier to understand what Iñárritu and Cruise are trying to accomplish with the film. It has some similarities to Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire Dr. Strangelove, but it also tries to stay grounded in certain ways. The push-and-pull between those who only seem to be out for themselves and those who want to get to the truth of the matter is played out on different fronts throughout the film. Not all of it lands, but enough does to not make the film seem completely unhinged.
Cruise has been nominated for three Oscars, and it’s clear he’s aiming for a fourth nod with this performance. He does his best to sell every quirk and aspect of the character, epitomized by a gonzo speech that utilizes every mental and physical skill he can muster. The supporting actors are hit-and-miss, but Ahmed comes off the best as a person serving as Digger’s moral conscience. He’s an antidote to Cruise’s mania, but then turns it up to 11 when needed.
Not everything is as it seems in Digger, and the out-there approach by Iñárritu and his team falls into the love-it-or-hate-it dichotomy that applies to many of his films. The very fact that everyone involved was willing to dedicate their whole selves to such an off-the-wall concept makes it deserving of attention, even if not everything is a success.
