The Dink

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2:22

The Dink

PG-13

2026

1h 42m

Comedy

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

91 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Washed up former tennis prodigy Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson) has been reduced to coaching unruly children at his father Chuck's (Ed Harris) suburban country club. Desperate for his father's approval, Dusty blindly supports Chuck's vendetta against the new craze taking over the club: pickleball. But when Dusty reaggravates an old injury, taking away his ability to play tennis, he resorts to the unthinkable in the name of rehab. He not only tries pickleball, but, thanks in part to his enchanting new partner, Candace (Mary Steenburgen), he finds himself actually enjoying it. Torn between two worlds, Dusty is forced to finally face the ghosts of his past athletic failures, including his childhood nemesis, Andy Roddick (Andy Roddick). Ultimately, Dusty is drawn into a desperate battle for the future of the club, his father's affection and his very identity.

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Critics Consensus

Jake Johnson gives his all to pickleball in The Dink, a funny and easygoing enough comeback for the sports comedies of yore that leaves it all on the court with ample pizzazz.

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Audience Says

While not an overhead smash, The Dink’s game cast serves up enough good-natured humor to make it an enjoyable match.

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Kristy Puchko

Mashable

Sep 18, 2026

Greenbaum's brand of comedy is defiantly wacky, welcoming, and humane, never mean. So The Dink is sure to please, whatever your age or interest in its central sport.

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Lindsey Bahr

Associated Press

Sep 3, 2026

2.5/4

It is moderately successful in toeing the line between silly and heartfelt. And, to its credit, it doesn’t go so low as to make pickleball and its players the butt of every joke. There are some, to be sure; But it’s mostly done so lovingly.

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Martin Robinson

London Evening Standard

Jul 28, 2026

2/5

Apple TV’s new film The Dink, however, takes a disappointingly gentler approach in depicting the gentle American sport of pickleball when it should, surely, be taking a wrecking ball to it.

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Adrian Ruiz

But Why Tho?

Aug 28, 2026

6/10

"Fine" becomes both The Dink’s most accurate description and its greatest limitation.

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Brett Arnold

Yahoo.com

Aug 26, 2026

The Dink is a delightful comedy that sneaks up on you by being heartfelt to boot, thanks to the chemistry of its two stars.

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Alex Maidy

JoBlo's Movie Network

Aug 14, 2026

7/10

You will likely leave this film wanting to try your hand at the game, or it may even turn you on to cowgirl country music. The Dink definitely earns the laughs it puts out there and is better than I expected.

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Patrick C

@PatricktheCritic 4 days ago

Really really bad. The film tries to pull the aura of Happy Gilmore and Hot Rod into the Pickleball genre but all it achieves is lots of awkwardness and just not funny bits. All the actors don't really act and they try too hard to throw in funny bits that just aren't funny. Jake Johnson - probably the only one showing acting chops Aaron Chen -- this guy is a comedian in real life???? Worse, the film tries to push themes at the audience that are just cringe, you'll see it after the rodeo dance.

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Ben N

@Bneffer 6 days ago

Fairly pointless, the plot was predictable and the comedy just okay. The shining light was the Napoleon Dynamite style relationship between the main character and his friend. The final scene was decently handles as well. Other than that, I'd say this was not all that great, and I like Pickleball.

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Andre B

@RT60663855 Oct 3, 2026

Unless you have absolutely nothing else to do, don’t waste your time with this bad acting and hopelessly poor storyline.

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Carrie B

@carrie5ten Oct 2, 2026

decent story and loved the pickleball parts. ben stiller could have stayed out of it along with those parts and it would've been better. why he always gotta be trash?

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Henry D

@Henry_Domke Sep 28, 2026

People acting like they are stupid is not appealing. Pickleball isn't of particular interest to us, so something else had to make this work, and it didn't. We quit after 20-minutes.

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Leon H

@RT13589101 Sep 28, 2026

Thought I'd hate this but I laughed several times so I would say it's a success as a comedy. It's also hackneyed, brainless fluff but enjoyable regardless.

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Josh Greenbaum

Director

Jake Johnson

Dusty Boyd

Mary Steenburgen

Candace

Ed Harris

Chuck Boyd

Ben Stiller

Dr. Stone

Patton Oswalt

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Synopsis

Washed up former tennis prodigy Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson) has been reduced to coaching unruly children at his father Chuck's (Ed Harris) suburban country club. Desperate for his father's approval, Dusty blindly supports Chuck's vendetta against the new craze taking over the club: pickleball. But when Dusty reaggravates an old injury, taking away his ability to play tennis, he resorts to the unthinkable in the name of rehab. He not only tries pickleball, but, thanks in part to his enchanting new partner, Candace (Mary Steenburgen), he finds himself actually enjoying it. Torn between two worlds, Dusty is forced to finally face the ghosts of his past athletic failures, including his childhood nemesis, Andy Roddick (Andy Roddick). Ultimately, Dusty is drawn into a desperate battle for the future of the club, his father's affection and his very identity.

Director: Josh Greenbaum
Producer: Ben Stiller, John Lesher, Rob Paris, Mike Witherill, Jake Johnson
Screenwriter: Sean Clements
Distributor: Apple TV
Production Co: Red Hour Films, Rivulet Media, Apple Original Films
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Material|Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 24, 2026
Runtime: 1h 42m

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