The Dink

Pickleball is a real sport, I guess, now that there’s a movie. I wouldn’t have said the same thing about dodgeball before 2004, but then Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story came out, and international leagues started popping up everywhere. The Dink is the first pickleball movie, further legitimizing what started like a Midwestern hotdish: assembled from leftovers and whatever’s available—in this case, tennis, badminton, and table tennis. Although supposedly invented in 1965 at the cushy home of a US politician, pickleball has become wildly popular among seniors and non-sporty types in the last decade, enough to convince Hollywood to commit to a feature. Like the dodgeball movie, The Dink is about an underdog who commits to an underdog sport. It’s irresistible in that sense, combining timeless sports movie tropes with a goofball sense of humor into an Apple TV original worth a month’s subscription fee. 

Jake Johnson stars as Dusty Boyd, who once had a promising future as a tennis pro. Trained by his Richard Williams-esque father, Chuck (Ed Harris), Dusty earned the nickname “The Hammer” from his devastating serves. But after a public embarrassment and wrist-shattering injury, he never lived up to his potential. Now, he’s a cocky trainer at his father’s posh tennis club, which is threatened by members who want to expand the club’s pickleball offerings. Chuck calls pickleball “the coronavirus of sports” and vows to stomp out the game at his club. But after another injury requires Dusty to play the low-impact game with some friendly septuagenarians—Candace (Mary Steenburgen) and her two friends (Luenell, Lynne Marie Stewart)—he begins to see its appeal. The relationship between Dusty and Candace evolves from a would-be romance to a cute, sturdy friendship. And Dusty’s newfound passion for the game inspires him to stand up to his father. The ups and downs of the story offer few surprises (aside from its random interest in country music), and it all ends in a championship game for the fate of the club. 

Having only a passing knowledge of pickleball, I learned the basics of the sport by watching The Dink, including the title’s meaning. But those unfamiliar need not avoid the movie; its sports movie template is so familiar that the specifics of the game are almost an afterthought. Director Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, 2021) delivers plenty of laughs thanks to Sean Clements’ screenplay and a supporting cast of funny people: Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman, Chris Parnell, and the late Stewart. Much like Dodgeball and another underdog sports movie, Happy Gilmore (1996), Ben Stiller appears in a small role, playing Dusty’s pervy doctor. The standout is Australian comedian Aaron Chen, whose Waititi-esque humor is amusing and silly. Johnson is a likable leading man, as evidenced by Let’s Be Cops (2014) and the underrated show Minx (2022-2023). However familiar the setup may be, the chemistry between him and Steenburgen alone makes The Dink an easy recommendation for a casual watch at home.