by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
Washed-up former tennis player Dustin Boyd (Jake Johnson) now works at his father Chuck’s (Ed Harris) tennis club trying everything he can to earn his respect. After suffering a wrist injury, Dustin is advised to take up Pickleball, the very sport Chuck is attempting to remove from the club after an influx of Pickleball players. Despite having very little liking for the sport or the people who play it, Dustin starts to learn a lot more about Pickleball and even becomes friends with an older woman named Candace (Mary Steenburgen). As his wrist recovers, Dustin begins to question if he’s really a tennis player and how important his father’s respect really is to him.
There are a few things about the setup here that I found intriguing. The main character’s backstory is that they were a young tennis prospect who ultimately never made it. It’s an interesting aspect of professional sports that is pretty much never talked about: for every sports star who wins everything, there are hundreds of players who are just as good but, for whatever reason, never have any success. The reality check these young talents get when they first turn professional and find there are dozens of people just as good as them and many who are even better can hit them quite hard. Dustin’s backstory touches on this a little, although it’s mainly used as a reason why Chuck isn’t proud of him. Another aspect I liked was the introduction to Pickleball, a sport not many sports fans, myself included, are familiar. Most likely for this reason, the story takes the time to explain the basic rules and touches on some of the tactics.
Meanwhile, Dustin’s situation in life as a failed tennis player who is no longer at the peak of his game makes him a bit of a laughingstock at the club. It touches on another interesting mindset: people who were talented enough to be among the best but ultimately failed are seen as losers, whereas those who aimed much lower and succeeded are more respected. This conflict is further escalated by Dustin’s arrogance at feeling he is better than everyone else and his refusal to admit to any mistake. Which is where a lot of the comedy stems from and is a core element of his arc. He has to learn to confess the truth about his past, involving a match he played against Andy Roddick. When this truth is revealed, it’s played up as a bit of a twist, but by the time it happens, the audience has already worked out everything except the specific details of what he did.
Meanwhile, Dustin’s friendship with Candace makes for several enjoyable scenes that show Dustin’s growth and ultimately convince him to accept the sport of Pickleball. Candace fills the role of Dustin’s mentor and partner during the middle part of the story and the chemistry between Johnson and Steenburgen makes these scenes work. They give off a clear vibe that makes you want them to end up together, even if they ultimately only remained friends. And let’s face it, when it comes to TV and film, a romance between characters with an age difference of more than 20 years, just isn’t believable and may come across as a little creepy.
There are a few other subplots involving side characters that felt a little more like filler to me. There are way too many characters, and they all seem to want their moment to be funny. As a result, the film often gets sidetracked by random gags and jokes. I’ve never understood why so many comedies are written as if every free second has to include a joke or something funny. Jokes are only a good addition if they are genuinely funny. Why can’t more comedies be regular stories with the occasional joke? Why does the label “comedy” always seem to mean “must constantly be making you laugh?”
Former tennis stars Andy Roddick and John McEnroe play themselves in the movie. Roddick’s role serves (no pun intended) to connect to the mystery of Dustin’s past. Roddick does a fine job in the role, but the story does vilify him a lot, making him look like a bit of a jerk. I assume the real Roddick was okay with this, or he wouldn’t have agreed to do it, but it seemed like an odd way to portray a real person who, from what I’ve read, is actually a pretty decent guy. McEnroe has a pretty amusing role as a commentator for the audience, but he does it in a self-aware way that reminds me of Deadpool. McEnroe, of course, thrives in this role, having done tennis commentary for British and American TV for years. He adds just the right level of drama and humor to the climax, and it was probably the funniest part of the story for me.
As for other stand-out performances, Aaron Chen has a fun role as PJ, a character who idolizes Dustin despite him clearly being washed up. The overly serious way he talked about Dustin’s time as a player and his obliviousness to the truth made his character a lot of fun. Patton Oswalt is also here in a smaller role doing his thing and bringing a good bit of enjoyment to his scenes. On the other side of the coin, Cleo King and Lynne Marie Stewart did not work for me; I was annoyed every second they were talking, and I didn’t understand the need for their characters in the story.
Ultimately, The Dink was always going to suffer from predictability due to the story’s formulaic nature; however, it still manages to surprise you with some plot twists. There are too many characters here for the relatively straightforward plot, even if most of them do get at least one or two funny moments. It’s at its best when it’s just Johnson and Steenburgen, and ironically it’s a sports film where the sport is the least interesting part. If you are looking to feel good and have a cheap laugh, you could do a lot worse than this film; however, don’t expect anything more from the story. Rating: Just Okay
The Dink is currently available to stream on Apple TV
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