‘The Dink’ ★★★ Cast: Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, Patton Oswalt, Ben Stiller, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Indiana Elle, Aaron Chen and Chloe Fineman. Directed by Josh Greenbaum; produced by John Lesher and Rob Paris; screenplay by Sean Clements. An Apple Films release. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13 (language and suggestive material) Streaming on Apple TV+.
An amusing-enough time-filler, Josh Greenbaum’s “The Dink” looks at the class divide through a distinctly modern prism — the clash between supporters of pickleball and tennis.
At times not quite as humorous as it should be, at others explosively funny, it moves in fits and starts, struggling to find the momentum it needs. However, the veteran cast, particularly the supporting players, end up saving the film in the end, their energetically rendered bits delivering just enough comic gold to make this worth your while.
Reduced to giving tennis lessons to kids at his father’s country club, Dustin Boyd (Jake Johnson) is the poster boy for Peter Pan Syndrome. Having been groomed by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris), to be the Tiger Woods of tennis, as a young man, he was a sensation in local and youth leagues. However, when competing against a young Andy Roddick in a national tournament as a teen, Boyd suffers a meltdown, breaking his own wrist to avoid completing the match.
Now a middle-aged never-was, he’s been trying to live down this humiliation ever since. A chance at redemption occurs when he’s given the opportunity to represent his father’s club in a showdown with a pickleball champion. If he wins, the club will not have to install more pickleball courts. If he loses, the philistines will invade.
However, when he re-injures his wrist, it’s recommended he rehab by playing pickleball. This is an anathema to him, yet he reluctantly heads to the courts of shame, paired up with recent divorcee Candace (Mary Steenburgen). Boyd finds his power-tennis tactics have no place on these smaller courts and is forced to adjust not only his game, but also his attitude toward his new partner and her friends.
Films of this sort follow a predictable narrative path, so screenwriter Sean Clements’ job isn’t to come up with clever plot twists but to populate the story with colorful characters. He proves more than up to the task, as his collection of oddballs provide one laugh-out-loud moment after another.
Patton Oswalt is on board as Skip, a pickleball promoter who lets his passion for the sport get the best of him time and again. Aaron Chen steals one scene after another as PJ, Boyd’s best friend who gets hung up on the minutiae of every situation he’s in, while Ben Stiller’s Dr. Stone has trouble maintaining professional boundaries with his patients. Throw in Roddick and John McEnroe playing outsized, comedic versions of themselves, and you have a murderer’s row of comic support.
To be sure, Johnson has his moments. His character’s constant bragging and inability to master pickleball are funny but get old fast. Of course, Steenburgen can do no wrong, and while it’s initially off-putting seeing Harris in a comedy, he manages to generate a laugh or two along the way.
Clements’ script does veer towards the icky when he introduces a potential romance between Boyd and Candance. While it underscores the former’s desperate nature and need for validation, it comes off as cringy and out of place. Thankfully, it’s addressed and put to bed quickly.
As for the predictable conclusion, a pickleball match between Boyd and Roddick, it contains enough physical comedy to make it amusing, its outcome plausible and satisfying. “The Dink” ends up not only being a primer for those new to pickleball but a pleasant way to while away a hot summer day. With films of this sort, you can’t ask for much more.
