Laughing Through Pickleball: A Review of "The Dink"

The Dink isn’t the first movie about pickleball, though it may be the first from a major (or at least major-ish) studio. It’s surprising it took Hollywood this long to seize on the trend, but I suppose that sometimes it’s better to let a project cook a bit longer in the hopes of getting it just right than it is to rush something out. That said, while it’s pretty entertaining and often quite funny, it still feels like this one could have used a little more time in the oven.

Dusty (Jake Johnson; Boone Nelson and Nathan Blair in flashbacks) was a rising tennis star in his youth until an accident during a match against Andy Roddick (himself; Cooper Woestendick in flashbacks) derailed his career. Now, with an outsized ego that is often inflated by his lackey / best friend PJ (Aaron Chen), he teaches the sport at his father Chuck’s (Ed Harris) country club, doing the bare minimum to get by.

All of them look down on pickleball and have so far resisted giving more than the club’s worst court over to it, but as it grows in popularity some members begin lobbying for additional space. Knowing that a vote amongst the membership will probably go in the picklers’ favor, Chuck digs up an old by-law that allows him to instead have the matter decided by a tennis match with each side selecting one player to represent them. Dusty assumes he will be his father’s choice, but after inflaming his old injury he is cast aside.

Dr. Stone (Ben Stiller) recommends that he take up pickleball himself in order to get back into playing shape, an idea that Dusty initially laughs at. But when he joins a game with Candace (Mary Steenburgen) and her friends Gail (Cleo King) and Judy (Lynne Marie Stewart) he finds he actually enjoys playing and even more, enjoys the budding friendship that forms between himself and Gail.

It’s a sweet story with more than a few solid laughs, and while it often pokes fun at pickleball, it’s hard not to come away from this without being tempted to try the sport out for yourself. Director Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) and screenwriter Sean Clements (Workaholics) don’t really break any new ground as far as sports comedies go and the movie would have been well-served if they had leaned into its absurd side a bit more, but as it stands it does keep a smile pretty firmly planted on viewers’ faces throughout.

The cast are what really makes this work, with everyone nailing the necessary tone and timing with seemingly effortless ease. Even smaller parts like Patton Oswalt’s pickleball advocate and John McEnroe’s extended cameo make impressions, but this is Johnson and Steenburgen’s movie through and through and the pair prove so irresistible together that one is left longing for another team-up.

The Dink is unlikely to enter the pantheon of all-time great sports movies, but it does serve up a pleasantly amusing bit of fun that would be a nice way to cap off a day on the courts. ★★★½