The Dink

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2:22

The Dink

PG-13

2026

1h 42m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

84 Reviews

59%

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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Martin Robinson

London Evening Standard

Jul 28

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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Jared Richards

The Age (Australia)

Jul 27

2/5

Much like the gentle pickleball lob it’s named after, The Dink plods along lightly, pleasant enough but subdued.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Jul 25

2/5

Harris is typically effective as the sociopathic paterfamilias but it’s a familiar performance that, if not quite phoned in, could almost have been delivered over Zoom.

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Sonal Pandya

Times Now

2h

3/5

There are no real surprises in terms of story, but the cast sells the narrative's turns as delightful surprises. While the movie's story is based on a tennis versus pickleball rivalry, the focus on the new sport is about how it transforms Dusty.

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Alex Hudson

Exclaim!

4h

7/10

The throwaway jokes hit as hard and as fast as a pickleball rally.

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Archi Sengupta

LeisureByte.com

15h

3.5/5

Apple TV+‘s The Dink transforms a simple pickleball premise into a surprisingly heartfelt underdog comedy, thanks to Jake Johnson’s effortless charm and Mary Steenburgen’s delightful performance.

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Joe T

@JoeT03 3h

These shows made for streaming just are not very good. They pay a well known actor to hire their friends and family for a fun time and don't ask that they produce a good product. They seemed to set this up as a sports/pickelball movie. It is part of the show, but not the focus. They even rehashed some actors from other recent streaming shows. Everybody is mailing in the performance. I know comedy isn't the thing in regular theaters any more, but at least try to make quality entertainment.

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B R

@RT22100044 1d

Horrible movie. Not funny, not clever, bad acting, juvenile script, with almost no pickle ball playing in the movie - and the few scenes that did have pickle ball were with inexperienced players acting stupid for the sake of comedy. There’s no reason to waste time on this movie.

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Al B

@alberg2011 1d

Terrible, not funny. Turned off after 30 minutes.

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Alana P

@albertina857 1d

I watched it because I'm a tennis nerd but god that was painful, even skipping throught it felt too long.

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Abe I

@abelovesfilm 1d

A charming sports movie that is laugh out laud funny. Yes its a pickle ball movie but the people spamming low sports because it doesn't have mostly pickleball are deranged. . It's a comedy that has pickleball on it, it's not supposed to be a dramatic reenactment of rec league pickleball. Mary is so funny and so is Ben Stiller. Very funny movie.

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Solvie F

@solviefilms 2d

i liked it! but that’s it. i just … liked it?

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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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