Film Review – The Dink

July 27th, 2026 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

The Dink (2026) follows a comedy trope in which our protagonist enters a world they have no respect for, develops an attachment for said world, learns to love it, and through their experience learns some truths about themselves. It’s a fable as old as time. In Kindergarten Cop (1990), Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tough police officer learns how to manage teaching a classroom of rowdy kids and eventually comes to sincerely care for them. In Hot Fuzz (2007), Simon Pegg’s character – coincidentally also a cop – gets reassigned to a small village that seems far below his ambitions but hides secrets he wasn’t prepared for. It’s a classic premise that has stood the test of time – a variant of the “Fish Out of Water” plot structure.

There are no cops in The Dink, but the journey of the central character is remarkably similar to the examples I described above. Dustin Boyd (Jake Johnson) was once a promising pro tennis player. But after suffering an injury playing against his archrival (Andy Roddick, as himself), Dustin’s career took a nosedive. We first meet him as a half-serious tennis instructor at a club run by his disapproving father, Chuck (Ed Harris). After yet another injury due to his arrogance on the court, Dustin’s physician (Ben Stiller) recommends he play pickleball to help him rehabilitate. The problem is: Dustin hates pickleball. He – along with his father – believes the game is an affront to “real” sports like tennis, and the fact that the game has quickly gained in popularity is like an annoying itch he can’t scratch.

You see where all this is going, right? The narrative follows a very predictable path in which Dustin reluctantly joins a pickleball club, befriends its members, develops a respect for the game, and gets into a push-and-pull situation between its world and the one headed by his father. Director Josh Greenbaum and writer Sean Clements don’t do anything all that surprising with this dynamic. We all know how Dustin’s perspective of the game will change and how the rocky relationship with his father will likely play out. And it’s not a huge shocker that the climactic scene will involve Dustin facing his personal ghosts (and Roddick) in a tense pickleball match. What is a nice twist is in some of the finer details and supporting character work. People like Dustin’s loyal friend PJ (Aaron Chen) whose blind support both feeds Dustin’s ego and puts him in some awkward situations. There is also Candace (Mary Steenburgen), a member of the pickleball club that Dustin grows closest to.

In any other comedy, the Candace character would be played by an actor closer in age to Dustin/Jake Johnson. That way, the possibility of a “will they/won’t they” romance would work as a secondary storyline. While that possibility is briefly touched upon, it’s quickly sidelined in favor of the characters sharing a relationship based on mutual understanding rather than sexual chemistry. Both Dustin and Candace are stuck in their pasts. Dustin can’t get over his dreams of tennis glory falling apart before it ever really began. As for Candace, we learn of her history with her ex (Martin Kove) and how she never quite got over him. One of the sweeter sequences has Candace and Dustin going to a country bar where they find her ex with his new (and much younger) girlfriend. Instead of letting Candace wallow in misery, what Dustin does to cheer her up reveals just as much about him and the kind of person he is capable of being.

Admittedly, pickleball is not as physically demanding as tennis. Nor is it as fast and furious as say, ping pong. The film itself points out that the game is a little “dorky.” But the fact that it isn’t as taxing as other sports means that many many more people can play it. A major point of concern for Chuck is how the popularity of the game will risk his club removing tennis courts in favor of more pickleball courts. The Dink highlights the notion that pickleball is an inclusive game – that people of any age and relative ability can play it. That’s the lesson Dustin learns to accept. The writing/direction embraces some of the more peculiar aspects of the game, like how the non-volley area of the court is known as “The Kitchen.” Anytime someone makes the error of hitting the ball in The Kitchen and not letting it bounce first, they forfeit a point and – perhaps even worse – are subject to trash talk from their opponents. Some of the funnier jokes has middle-aged women verbally jabbing at Dustin to “stay out of The Kitchen.” 

In the hierarchy of sports comedies, The Dink isn’t anywhere near the top, nor is at the bottom of the barrel. It is a mid-level outing that doesn’t do anything extraordinarily well but isn’t a dumpster fire either. In terms of the gameplay, the cinematography (Carl Herse) and editing (Greg Hayden) does a fine enough job making the tennis and pickleball scenes look convincing. I don’t know if Jake Johnson has real life experience playing tennis/pickleball, but the filmmaking convinces us that he does. There are some inspired choices in camera placement during the action. One shot has the camera placed above the court looking straight down as characters engage in long rallies, alternating between hard shots and soft dinks (hence the film’s title). This isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff, but the gameplay is engaging enough to generate tangible suspense. 

The Dink is a throwback to the sports comedies of the early 2000s. It belongs in the same category as Dodgeball (2004), Talladega Nights (2006), or even Bring It On (2000). While I highly doubt this will have the lasting fanbase as those films, it does follow the same pattern of both embracing its featured sport and poking fun at its eccentricities. For the most part, I enjoyed much of what this had to offer, even if a lot of it was overly familiar. 

Aaron Chen, Andy Roddick, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Stiller, Bring it On, Carl Herse, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Ed Harris, Greg Hayden, Hot Fuzz, Jake Johnson, Josh Greenbaum, Kindergarten Cop, Martin Kove, Mary Steenburgen, Sean Clements, Simon Pegg, Talladega Nights, The Dink