Don’t be a dink. Watch this funny and good-hearted comedy.
“The Dink” may be the better sports comedy than last week’s Netflix hit “The Hawk.” I’m pretty sure of it. Now, I’m 100% sure. They both have jerks trying to make comebacks and earn respects from their family members, but “The Dink” features less cynicism and more respect.
In fact, I trust in this comedy’s judgement, a lot more than I trusted in “Balls Up,” “Scary Movie” (2026), and “Little Brother.” And believe you me, I did tell you to see “Jackass: Best and Last,” which had more courage and laughs than those comedies did. And now, I’m telling you to watch “The Dink” on AppleTV, too.
Jake Johnson plays a former tennis pro named Dusty Boyd, who is reduced to training kids in his father Chuck’s (Ed Harris) club. He even has an Australian young man named PJ (Aaron Chen) as his assistant and probably only best friend. And at this point, his dad is a little sore about how he lost a match to a then young Andy Roddick due to a bathroom injury when he slipped on the floor.
One day, he insults a middle aged pickleball player named Candace (Mary Steenburgen), who is just visiting the club for the day. He bans her under his authority. Not that he had much authority at his father’s club in the first place. But when he injures his hand during a tennis match, his doctor (Ben Stiller) gives him some medical advice: play pickleball. That’s when he reluctantly collaborates with Candace, and that’s when they learn to connect with each other.
I was thinking back to “The Hawk,” when Ferrell’s golfer was forced to apologize to a couple for cursing at them, and I’m thinking that he needs a personality check. And now that I’m seeing “The Dink,” I like how Candace shows Dusty who’s boss, and none of them compete against each other. He even watches “The Graduate” for the first time with her at her house, and the pottery she makes couldn’t be more comical. That’s the kind of respect and humor I’m talking about.
And since Stiller is also a producer on this film, I was thinking back to “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” and early reports suggests it would have that same vibe. I was thinking less about that as I was watching “The Dink,” because it’s actually more heartwarming. I’m not saying I hated “Dodgeball,” because I enjoyed that comedy from my youth. I’m saying it wants Dusty to deal with his vulnerabilities, even though he turns off the radio playing Jelly Roll’s “I Am Not Okay.”
Like Vince Vaughn and Bill Murray, Jake Johnson has an attitude that makes his characters seem like a wisecracker and awkward schlump whom we’re able to root for. Think back to “Drinking Buddies,” “Let’s Be Cops,” “Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse,” and “Ride the Eagle.” And Steenburgen is no strangers to comedies of its commercial appeal, and yet, she doesn’t let the genre or comedy stars tell her what to do. She plays along with it. I know most of you loved “Step Brothers” and I know I loved how she gets perplexed about having syrup with spaghetti in “Elf.” And the funniest cameo comes from John McEnroe when he spectates on a game and brings a hotdog from home.
Some of the behaviors can be a little crass, but “The Dink,” directed by Josh Greenbaum, manages to tame itself and play a good game. In fact, this comedy is a good sport about a lot of things. I’m only going to compare and contrast this and “The Hawk” one last time. That show made a hole in none on the comedy; this movie swings the racket and hits the ball.
Streaming on AppleTV This Friday
