The Dink Review: Fun Endorsement of Pickleball and Connection

Alex Schlerf
Jul 28
5 min read

Apple TV continues their straight-to-streaming film model with The Dink, a comedy about a washed up tennis prodigy forced to pick up the sport of pickleball.

Synopsis:

Desperate to save a struggling country club and earn his father’s respect, a washed-up tennis pro is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.

Cast:

Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Aaron Chen, Ed Harris, Patton Oswalt

Release Date: Streaming Now

Seal of Approval for Pickleball

From very early on, you can tell that this movie is attempting to endorse the sport of pickleball. Jake Johnson serves as the POV for a lot of us these days, seeing the rise of the sport and being entirely confused at what all the hype is about. There's the original confusion over the ins and outs of the actual game, like rules for when you can enter the "kitchen". But the real endorsement comes from the sense of community that they portray throughout the entire film. All the people playing are on the surface completely different then Johnson's character, but they show that community can really come from any place. This is actually a really powerful message to see in a comedy film and it's what has stuck with me the most since I finished this.

I took a little issue with the dynamic with Steenburgen's character, which I'll discuss later, but I will say for the first hour or so it's an incredibly sweet pairing that really makes the movie. When you pair this with his strenuous relationship with his father, it's really great to see him coming out of his shell to make a whole new group of friends. This movie is not only supporting the idea of the sport, but also the idea of going outside your comfort zone and meeting new people.

Jake Johnson Among Hilarious Cast

As a mostly comedy-focused film, the other main draw for The Dink is the humor. I personally love Jake Johnson's comedic timing in not only all his projects, but also a ton of interview clips as well. That continues in this movie, as his character Dusty has some comical one liners in the first hour while he adjusts to this new phase in his life. You've got the occasional bit from Ben Stiller or Ed Harris, two very prominent actors, but the rest of the cast is mostly more unknown. My second favorite character had to be from Aaron Chen, who plays Johnson's yes man friend. Their dynamic genuinely had me in hysterics and it also is really sweet the loyalty they have for each other throughout. I think Patton Oswalt is a comedic genius so it was nice seeing him in this, albeit in a small role. Generally, the comedy is really well written, which is a lot of credit to the editing. There's a lot of very timely cuts and they clearly all knew the ridiculousness of the plot at times.

Lastly, as a tennis fan, have to give a shoutout to Andy Roddick and John McEnroe for their shockingly good acting chops. It's not a large role for eitheir of them, but they totally stood out to me in their screentime. Roddick is great at just playing a stone-faced version of himself who completely rejects the idea of pickleball. McEnroe appears towards the end and has the single funniest bit in the entire film. Seeing both of them made my tennis fan heart very happy!

Odd Romance Angle

As I said earlier, I was really enjoying the relationship between the male and female lead for the majority of the film, but then it went in a direction that just didn't work for me at all. Listen, it's 2026, I get it - there are large age gaps in relationships. I just think the direction they took here didn't feel natural and really stunted the development of everyone involved. I liked the idea that Johnson's character was going to show up for her in a tough time in her life, but not really that it would've gone any further than that. I just think it put a huge detour in the story just for them to make up in a three minute scene right before the climax, which to me is a little silly. I think if they just established the friendship, it would've given more time for some fun scenes before we got into the final part of the story. I even would've enjoyed it more if by the end maybe she came around to the idea of it, but it's almost like it didn't even happen when the film is concluding. I guess you could convince me that's a lesson in forgiveness, but I just don't think it was executed well enough to come across that way.

Rushed and Predictable In Some Points

This is obviously a straight-to-streaming comedy film, so you kind of have to lower expectations in certain areas. What prevents this from being elevated over that standard is how rushed it felt in certain areas. It's got a shorter runtime, so they didn't really let anything breathe in the first hour or so. I would've much rather seen more of the backstory for Johnson's character early on then them slowing things down for the final act. Even the progress of him and his love for pickleball is so fast to the point that there's not really any arc there. After a few goofy scenes he basically immediately falls in love with it and is only dodging it to impress his father (a relationship you don't want to root for at all). I just think this could've really been on the upper tier of streaming movies if it had slowed things down or increased the runtime slightly.

There's also the fact that this story is mostly predictable. Basically from 15-20 minutes in you can kind of map out the story, and then even some of the "twists" towards the end feel pretty obvious. That can dampen any emotion or reward you feel when the final act plays out the way it does. Unfortunately the stuff that wasn't predictable, like the romance plot, just wasn't interesting enough to break out of the comedy trope.

Final Thoughts

The Dink may not be competing for any Oscars, but it's a very fun movie for pickleball lovers and haters alike. It's funny, has a great cast and there's some sweet messaging in there. It has issues, but it's a fun time for a streaming film to throw on with some friends and family.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

The Dink is currently ranked 36th out of the 52 new releases that I've seen this year.

Editor's Note: I've only included the top 20 from my 2026 new releases list, for editing purposes.