Dusty Boyd still talks about his tennis career as if his big win might happen tomorrow. In reality, he teaches children at his father's country club and hasn't recovered from losing to Andy Roddick as a teenager. Jake Johnson makes his bragging awkward enough to be funny, but spending a whole film with Dusty takes some patience. He's much easier to like once he starts playing with Candace, the pickleball player played by Mary Steenburgen.
The Dink is an American sports comedy directed by Josh Greenbaum. It's streaming on Apple TV in the US, with English as its original language. You don't need to follow tennis or pickleball to understand it. Dusty wants his father to respect him, and he keeps making bad decisions to get that approval.
Dusty keeps trying to impress the wrong person
His father, Chuck, runs the club and refuses to accept pickleball players taking over its tennis courts. Ed Harris makes Chuck's anger funny by playing it completely seriously. Chuck treats a change of sport like a personal insult. Dusty agrees with him because he wants to be the son his father expected: a tennis champion.
After hurting his wrist again, Dusty is told to try pickleball while he recovers. Players use solid paddles to hit a plastic ball over a net on a smaller court than a tennis court. Dusty assumes his tennis skills will make it easy. Hitting harder doesn't solve his problems here. He has to learn to place the ball and accept help from players he dismissed.
That's a good situation for Johnson. Dusty can be rude and overconfident, then look embarrassed when he realizes he isn't the best player around. The trouble is that his bragging gets repetitive. Once we understand how badly he wants to impress Chuck, more reminders of his failed career don't tell us much about him.
Candace makes the conversations worth watching
Candace becomes Dusty's playing partner. She's divorced, enjoys the game and wants to win too. Steenburgen gives Candace a competitive side instead of playing her only as someone who comforts Dusty. Their differences give them something to talk about beyond his injury and his father. Johnson is funnier when he has to respond to her than when he's simply telling everyone how talented he used to be.
The possibility of a romance adds some awkwardness between them, but their friendship is convincing before romance becomes a question. Their age difference doesn't have to supply every joke. We can see why Dusty would want to spend time with someone who enjoys his company without treating his old tennis record as the most important thing about him.
Some of the smaller parts are less satisfying. Ben Stiller plays the doctor who recommends pickleball, but the appointment also becomes an excuse for sexual jokes. The doctor scene spends too long on the same kind of joke. Dusty needs advice about his wrist; the extra material delays his return to the people we want to see him play with.
The final match is easier to predict than to get excited about
Chuck finds a club rule that allows the dispute over its courts to be decided by a match. Andy Roddick, playing a fictional version of himself, brings Dusty's old rivalry back into the story. That gives the contest a personal reason to matter: Dusty has spent years measuring himself against this man.
The match gives Dusty a goal, but the story offers few surprises on the way there. His injury forces him to try something new, his new partner helps him change, and a sporting showdown tests what he's learned. Those familiar steps would matter less if the jokes were stronger. At 102 minutes, the pauses between good exchanges can make this small club dispute feel longer than it needs to.
Pixel Twelve score: 6/10. Johnson and Steenburgen make the partnership worth watching, and Harris is funny as a father who takes the club far too seriously. But repeated jokes and a predictable competition keep this from being an easy recommendation. If you already like Johnson's awkward, argumentative characters, there is enough here for a relaxed evening. If Dusty's bragging annoys you early on, the sports story probably won't change your mind.
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See the The Dink movie page for the cast, trailer and where to watch, or read more Pixel Twelve reviews.
