Apple TV’s The Dink is an incredibly low stakes comedy, the kind that streaming services have cornered the market in. It’s a film that would have gone unnoticed given a cinema release but might pique the interest of those wanting something unadventurous on movie night. Buoyed by the chemistry between its two stars who just about manage to elevate the aggressively formulaic script. At no point will The Dink ever surprise you, or make any deviation from the character arcs you guessed in the opening minutes. The film’s appeal will solely hang on whether you’re charmed by Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen’s affable performances. 

After an ignominious exit from professional tennis, former prodigy Dustin “Dusty” Boyd (Jake Johnson) is reduced to teaching children at his father’s private tennis club. Trained since birth for sporting greatness, Dusty relives his glory days with his sycophantic coworker and only friend PJ (Aaron Chen). His father Chuck, (Ed Harris) is a cold and aloof parent, more consumed with paranoia about pickleball taking over his beloved club than with the wellbeing of his moorless son. He’s far more concerned with the popularity of pickleball in his beloved club which he compares to the rampant and destructive spread of the Covid 19 pandemic). He knows that the pickleball players have the numbers to win a vote to gain more space than the sole court that they’ve been relegated to and proposes a match between the factions to decide the fate of the club. Dusty sees this match as a way to finally prove himself to his father but injures himself before he’s able to represent the tennis loyalists. Eager to return to match form, Dusty’s doctor (Ben Stiller) proposes using pickleball to speed up his recovery which he reluctantly and secretly attempts. It’s here that he meets Candace (Mary Steenburgen) who took up pickleball after her divorce. They form an unlikely partnership, linked by their competitiveness and desire to win. The pair’s on court relationship blossoms into a friendship that Dusty struggles to navigate given their age gap and his desire to deride pickleball in order to get closer to his father. With his Dad’s tennis club’s fate hanging in the balance will Dusty be loyal to his dismissive father or new found friend?