If pickleball is invading our lives, eventually it was going to invade the cinemas, and Apple is just the studio to take advantage of it. The Dink is the latest comedy from Josh Greenbaum, the director of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and continues the plague upon our people that is pickleball. I say that jokingly. I’ve never played pickleball. I have no idea what it’s like. I don’t even conceptually understand the sport. But it seems to be one of those things where people either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it, and that’s exactly what The Dink capitalizes on.
The film follows Dusty, played by Jake Johnson, a former tennis prodigy whose professional career came to an abrupt end after breaking his wrist during a tournament against Andy Roddick. Now he works as a pro at the tennis club owned by his father, played by Ed Harris, but membership has started to dwindle as pickleball players push for more court space. One particularly vocal member, played by Patton Oswalt, petitions to convert more of the club to pickleball, much to the frustration of the tennis purists. To settle the matter once and for all, Dusty’s father organizes a winner-take-all tournament that will determine the club’s future. Dusty naturally assumes he’s the obvious choice to represent tennis, but with lingering concerns about his wrist, his doctor surprisingly recommends he try pickleball instead.
Reluctantly, Dusty finds an off-the-grid pickleball court where he’s paired with Candace, played by Mary Steenburgen, who already has experience with the sport and who previously crossed paths with Dusty under less-than-friendly circumstances. Dusty walks in believing that because he was once a professional tennis player, pickleball should be effortless. Instead, he quickly discovers he doesn’t understand the scoring, the court markings, or why everyone keeps telling him to stay out of the kitchen. Watching him stumble through the basics is part of the fun, and as he gradually learns the game, he starts to understand why so many people have become obsessed with it, even if he’s usually surrounded by players who are older than he is and mostly women.
The film also spends a surprising amount of time developing the friendship between Dusty and Candace, and honestly, I think that’s where it becomes most interesting. Dusty slowly develops feelings for her, and the movie even seems to encourage the audience to believe the relationship might go somewhere. Candace tells him she’s about to watch The Graduate, of all movies, and later seems genuinely surprised that Dusty interpreted that as a sign she might be interested in him too. The whole thing feels like the movie is building toward something before suddenly deciding it doesn’t want to commit.
That’s what frustrated me most about The Dink. Hollywood has spent decades pairing older men with much younger women without anyone batting an eye, but flip the genders and suddenly everyone gets nervous. Yes, Dusty and Candace are separated by about twenty-five years, but if these roles were reversed, I don’t think anyone would have questioned where the story was headed. I loved The Idea of You because it embraced an older woman having a younger love interest without apologizing for it. Here, despite investing so much time into Dusty catching feelings, director Josh Greenbaum ultimately backs away from making the bold choice. Dusty and Candace remain friends, making a large chunk of the emotional story feel nice, but ultimately a little pointless.
Ironically, the movie keeps piling on romantic subplots that never really go anywhere. Dusty’s father pressures him into reconnecting with an ex-girlfriend who cheated on him simply because he needs a date for a formal event. His doctor not only prescribes pickleball but also suggests some bizarre dating service. Dusty’s personal life keeps getting brought up over and over again, yet the movie never gives him a satisfying romantic resolution. Thankfully, he doesn’t end up back with the ex who cheated on him, but he also doesn’t end up with Candace, leaving him single by the end. I suppose you could argue that’s empowering, but it felt less like empowerment and more like Hollywood once again refusing to make the same creative choices it’s been perfectly comfortable making with older men for generations.
I actually loved the sequence where Dusty shows up at a country bar to support Candace while her ex-husband is there with a younger woman. Without missing a beat, her ex assumes Dusty must be her younger boyfriend and loudly announces it, which Candace never bothers correcting because she’s enjoying watching her ex squirm. The two dance the night away, and it’s genuinely charming. Moments like that only reinforce how much potential their relationship had if the movie had simply trusted itself enough to follow through.
Outside of that disappointment, The Dink is still a genuinely enjoyable sports comedy. The audio description was decent, though I wish the mix had been more aggressive. At times the narrator felt a little too passive, especially during the louder tennis and pickleball sequences filled with grunting and the constant smacking of balls across the courts. Get your mind out of the gutter. I’ve certainly heard much worse audio description, but this is one of those movies where the sound design occasionally overwhelms the narration.
I was also happy to see Mary Steenburgen getting such a substantial co-leading role opposite Jake Johnson. Hollywood too often seems unsure what to do with many of its legendary actresses once they reach a certain age. If they can’t build them something like Grace and Frankie, they often disappear into tiny supporting roles while older male actors continue leading movies and television shows well into their seventies and eighties. It’s nice seeing Steenburgen front and center again, and I wish more actresses of her generation were given opportunities like this.
So should you watch The Dink? I think so. It’s breezy, entertaining, and considerably less divisive than the pickleball-versus-tennis debate itself. A lot of streaming movies come and go without leaving much of an impression, but I think The Dink at least has a chance of sticking around because it feels like it has its own personality instead of recycling every sports comedy that came before it. I just wish Josh Greenbaum had trusted that originality enough to swing a little harder when it mattered most.
Fresh: 7.6/10
