I have a patchy relationship with Josh Greenbaum-directed narrative comedies. In 2021, he directed the Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo vehicle “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” an undersung hero of the absurdist comedy oeuvre. A couple of years later, we got the CGI dog comedy “Strays” – a far less successful outing, to say the least.
“The Dink,” Greenbaum’s newest film with a screenplay from Sean Clements, falls somewhere in the middle. The film follows Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), a former teenage tennis phenom who left the sport after a wrist injury (and a humiliating loss to Andy Roddick). Despite his fall from grace, there’s nothing Dusty loves more than tennis – and nothing he despises more than pickleball. Unfortunately for Dusty, pickleball is about to become an inevitability.
If I could speak on my own behalf, there’s no one who has more good will from me in Hollywood than Jake Johnson. I’ll give just about anything he does a chance, and in that regard, “The Dink” is … fine? It’s an inoffensive, forgettable comedy that only halfway plays to Johnson and the rest of the casts’ strengths. It’s not goofy or funny enough to be memorable, and often feels like a bit of an afterthought.
Read Sammie’s full list on Rough Draft
