Pickleball has exploded in popularity over the past decade as a healthy variation of tennis that’s easy for anyone looking to try something new. When comedy writer Sean Clements heard about a local turf war over this low-impact sport, his brain clicked.
“A friend of mine who was involved with the LA Tennis Center was lobbying for more pickleball courts,” he says. “They only had one, but he wanted to expand. And he was talking about all these controversial meetings and how everyone was passionate and kind of psychotic about being on both sides of it. And I thought, ‘Okay, this is a good backdrop and a central conflict.'”
The result is “The Dink,” a new Apple TV+ original movie that debuts on the platform Friday. “New Girl” alum Jake Johnson stars as Dusty Boyd, a former tennis pro in his prime who is encouraged to take up pickleball after an injury. He scoffs at the sport, but soon finds a community that embraces him. Among them is a friendly woman (Mary Steenburgen) who takes him under his wing. Along the way, his father (Ed Harris) tries to prevent any more pickleballers from invading the tennis club.
The story was a perfect fit for Clements, a former high school tennis player who faced difficulties when she resumed playing tennis in her 30s. A few friends suggested that pickleball might be easier on his body, and he resisted, but when a writer friend took him to play in a large group, he was thrilled.
Screenwriter/executive producer Sean Clements, director/executive producer Josh Greenbaum, and producers/actors Ben Stiller and Jake Johnson on the set of “The Dink.”
Provided by Apple TV
“I loved it,” he says. “I got hooked. So it was, ‘I’m an ex-tennis player who got into the pickleball world,’ and there was a lot of animosity between those two camps. I got to go to these open mixers and play with strangers, many of whom were of retirement age. I was recruited by a whole team of older women who wanted to partner with me because I had the drive to make some distance shots. That led to people asking me if I wanted to come and play, or if I wanted to go get some bagels and coffee, or if we could all go out for dinner, and the combination of this community embracing middle-aged people and being treated like young super athletes felt really good and gave me the kind of ego boost I always crave.”
“The Dink” is a four-quadrant PG-13 comedy that feels like a throwback to Flat Pack Oats (complete with a cameo from Ben Stiller), but it’s in a slightly different gear for Clements, a prolific television writer. His credits include cult hits like “Workaholics,” “Ash vs Evil Dead” and “Severance.” He is also the co-host of the showbiz satire podcast Hollywood Handbook. In this show, A-list stars give clowns an inside look at their personalities and the entertainment industry, and he and co-host Hayes Davenport inject plenty of dry, complex humor.
How did Clements manage to tailor his writing to a wide audience and still provide enough laughs? First, go through the re-drafting process.
“The first draft and concept for this was a little bit more of an ‘Eastbound and Downward’ type voice for the character, a little bit more harsh and aggressive,” says Clements. “As we worked on this film and worked with our co-creators and did table reads, we started to see what was working and resonating. As we were trying to shoot it, we got to the point that it actually had more curses in it. And we said, ‘This is the only thing that won’t make it PG-13. There wasn’t any crazy violence or sex or anything like that, so we thought, “If we just tweak the language a little bit to make it more appealing to more people, that’s fine.” It’s very simple and what we should do. ”
Clements also wanted to add warmth to the film, reflecting how he felt when he found his pickleball community.
“Maybe people who listen to the podcast or know some of the other work I’ve done will be surprised at how much heart goes into this film,” he says. “A lot of that comes from[director]Josh Greenbaum. He really encouraged me to find the emotions for the characters, but I love that. I’m a little bit of a softie. I think the real goal was to have turns that put the characters in situations where they could do what we wanted to see, but still be surprised.”
These comedic surprises were essential to Clements. A big fan of sports movies, his favorites range from “Happy Gilmore” and “Major League” to “Without Limits” and “Moneyball.” He knew there were certain moments that fans expected, but he also knew that some of the biggest laughs would come from giving them twists and turns.
“With movies like this, there are always certain beats that you crave from the movie,” he says. “You don’t want to disrespect the audience with moments like that, when you see that person get better at it, and how they can’t compete with their guts against an overpowered opponent. These movies have the beats that I’m looking for. Some of them are classics, but can we find a more interesting path to get there so they don’t feel like a cliché?”
Clements is currently hard at work filming the pilot for Hulu, “Lex,” but would he ever be interested in another story set in the opposite direction of “Dink?” A chance encounter led to an interesting idea.
“In another interview we did, one player said the pickleball courts were taking over the basketball courts at his gym,” Clements said. “And I thought, ‘I didn’t have any ideas for a sequel, but this is something that could really happen. They’re at war with basketball players, not tennis players. It’s getting more and more.'”
Watch the trailer for “The Dink” below.
