Pickleball movie The Dink lands mixed notice from Variety
Variety’s Guy Lodge says Josh Greenbaum’s Apple TV sports comedy has modest laughs, with Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen as its best rally.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Pickleball gets its underdog movie moment in “The Dink,” though Variety critic Guy Lodge says the Apple TV comedy plays a softer game than its sports-comedy setup might suggest.
In a review published July 23, Lodge describes director Josh Greenbaum’s film as a mild, upbeat comedy about a former tennis hopeful who is dragged into the world of amateur pickleball. The movie stars Jake Johnson as Dusty Boyd, a once-promising tennis player now coaching at the upscale racket club run by his father, Chuck, played by Ed Harris.
The setup, according to the review, finds Dusty and his father looking down on pickleball until a court-space dispute pushes the club’s tennis and pickleball players toward a deciding match. Dusty tries to prove he belongs on the tennis side, only for an old injury to return.
That injury sends him toward pickleball on the advice of a doctor played by Ben Stiller, who also serves as a producer on the film. Dusty then winds up in a league largely made up of older women, including Candace, played by Mary Steenburgen, who becomes his doubles partner.
Johnson and Steenburgen lead the rally
Lodge writes that Johnson carries much of the film with an easygoing screen presence, even while playing a character who spends plenty of time behaving badly. The review is warmer on Johnson’s scenes with Steenburgen, calling their chemistry one of the film’s more unexpected pleasures.
The review says the movie briefly teases a romantic angle between Dusty and Candace, whose age gap is part of the gag, but does not make that relationship the main event. Lodge argues that their dynamic is the most engaging element and could have supported a more character-focused comedy.
Variety is less enthusiastic about the broader comic engine. Lodge says the film, written by “Hollywood Handbook” host Sean Clements in his feature screenwriting debut, follows a familiar sports-underdog route and does not deliver many big laughs.
The review also compares the presence of Stiller to the 2004 comedy “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” while saying “The Dink” has far less manic comic force. Lodge describes it as pleasant and light, rather than consistently funny.
A stacked bench, with limited court time
The cast list is busy. Alongside Johnson, Steenburgen, Harris and Stiller, the film features Aaron Chen as PJ, plus Cleo King, Lynne Marie Stewart, Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman, Don Lake, Chris Parnell, Wayne Wilderson, Lennon Parham, Martin Kove, Christine Taylor, Fortune Feimster and Steve Berg.
Tennis names Andy Roddick and John McEnroe appear as themselves. Lodge singles out McEnroe’s commentary-style cameo as one of the sharper jokes in the film.
Greenbaum, whose credits include “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” directed the 103-minute movie. The listed producers are Stiller, John Lesher, Rob Paris, Mike Witherill and Johnson, with executive producers including Clements and Greenbaum.
Variety’s verdict is that “The Dink” is easy to watch, powered by likable performers and a friendly premise, while its comedy and match scenes rarely hit with the force the material could have used.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.