The Dink

As much as the tennis snobs in The Dink hate to admit it, we’re living in a pickleball world now, and no amount of contrarian racket is going to change that.

Poking fun at broad targets, this irreverent comedy from director Josh Greenbaum (Strays) pits old-school country-club tennis privilege against free-spirited pickleball fanatics in a battle for court supremacy.

Despite a silly premise that yields some solid laughs — along with an eclectic roster of cameos — this affectionate lampoon relies too heavily on quirks while funneling toward an inevitable climactic showdown.

Dustin (Jake Johnson) is a spoiled former tennis prodigy who turned from a wannabe into a has-been almost overnight. Now approaching middle age, he’s working as an instructor at his family’s upscale academy.

More importantly, Dustin is still living in the shadow of his overbearing father, Chuck (Ed Harris), whose pressure likely ruined his career, causing a meltdown years ago during a match against major champion Andy Roddick.

These days, Chuck still wields influence while lamenting the transition of one of his tennis courts into a playing surface for pickleball, or “the coronavirus of sports,” as he calls it. “We have a responsibility to become the vaccine,” Chuck explains.

After a confrontation with Candace (Mary Steenburgen) and her pickleball partners, Dustin later sheds his cynicism and sees a partnership as a potential pathway to revenge that might also earn the respect of his scheming father.

Beneath the crude surface, the film examines aging, arrested development, and dysfunctional family dynamics with various degrees of sweetness and sincerity.

The predictable screenplay by Sean Clements (“Workaholics”) features thinly sketched characters and a contrived redemption arc that tries to turn Dustin from an abrasive showoff into a sympathetic underdog with a new perspective and priorities.

Johnson (Self Reliance) effectively softens the edges of a role that could been merely obnoxious, while Steenburgen and her sassy senior cohorts bring some energy alongside their wisdom. And Harris admirably chews the scenery while refusing to take any of this seriously.

If there’s any activity ripe for self-deprecation, it’s pickleball. The Dink captures a crowd-pleasing vibe. However, the power of the paddle can’t lob enough of the gags over the net.

Rated PG-13, 103 minutes.