The Dog Stars

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Dog Stars is an adaptation of a novel of the same title, written by Peter Heller. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the majority of humanity has been wiped out by a virus. Hig, an engineer and Cessna pilot, lives a relatively isolated life as a survivor. After an attack, he seeks out to find the mysterious voice calling him to a place known as 'Grand Junction', hoping to find a brighter side of humanity.

As I watch the production credits fall away, The Dog Stars opens to a misty, peaceful morning. Jacob Elordi and his dog, Jasper, walk about an airstrip fuelling a Cessna aircraft. Hozier's 'Like Real People Do' plays gently as this unfolds, and completely soars as the plane ascends into the sky. A soft colour palette unfurls before us; majestic hills, rolling green planes, the soft grey and blues of those early hours. And one bright, optimistic little Cessna floating in the air. Those are the opening minutes, and for just a moment, I felt so peaceful in Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic world. 

It has been a few years since Ridley Scott sculpted a film I felt had a sense of beauty to it. But this is a film that really reminded me that Scott is a craftsman with a seasoned eye. I loved how immersive The Dog Stars is; how I felt a part of this dreary, little world. The camera captures vast, desolate landscapes and moments of civilisation lost in the city. Any scene with the Cessna looks picturesque, dream-like. When it glides on the wind, you just soar. This feature has a real sense of carrying you with the journey, inviting the audience to live with our characters. The guitar that strums gently, poignantly, over the film is another emotional thread. It gave the film a gentleness that really seemed at the heart of this story about a young man searching for hope.

If you're here to find a story that is going to break the mould on the post-apocalyptic genre, then Dog Stars just isn't for you. It's a movie that is comfortable with being simple and similar, both a strength and a flaw at times. This can mean there are stretches where the film slows and feels a bit practised, while others understand how to walk in this world rather well. I like that this is less an action film or a dusty bloodsport. The Dog Stars holds a pretty simple premise: when the world falls apart, will humans turn into selfish creatures or will they come together? Hig's journey is less about him as a character, and more about his wanderings fuelled by hope for a more optimistic future. The kill-or-be-killed way of living with Bangley wears thin on him and costs him the life of a loved one. His journey sees him connect with others and find love, before hordes of survivors aggressively descend upon him. His journey holds a moment of false promise to it, a pulpy cult-like faction that feels like it was poorly ripped out of a Zack Snyder film. The fact that both Hig and Bangley are ultimately on a journey to find community in the land they were already a part of is a nice bow placed upon all of this. Is the script always electric? No. Sometimes it really stumbles around in strange airport cults and takes forever to settle itself comfortably into the conclusion. But the journey is something I found myself enjoying being upon.

 While the cast isn't always perfectly suited, or their characters poorly drafted, I actually think the actors of The Dog Stars really served the feature well. None for me was better than Josh Brolin as Bangley. This gruff, cantankerous man felt like an end-of-days prepper, whose sour facade was steadily wearing down. I found Brolin the perfect face for this world that had worn people down. His action piece around defending the compound that was his home is the adrenaline spike of the film. Jacob Elordi proves a markedly competent protagonist as Hig. He is extremely reserved, yet holds wells of deep personal grief. I just sometimes wished that Elordi wouldn't pose or stare longingly after a sample of great acting from him; it held him back from being truly phenomenal. Margaret Qualley, on the other hand, proves to be the up-and-comer worth watching out for. Her character, Cima, holds a curiosity of the world that aligns well against Hig. Her own exploration of grief and how she has persevered is a strong driving force. This is a story with unique figures scattered about the world; Benedict Wong as a benevolent pillar of his community, Guy Pearce playing a grizzled and overly-protective father. Allison Janney even brings a clunkier part of the story to life by portraying a nightmarish antagonist who represents all the worst parts of this new world.

Ridley Scott toys with all the right ingredients when crafting this post-apocalyptic story. I would give The Dog Stars a 7.5/10.

Mutiny

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Mutiny follows Cole Reed, a former British soldier and police officer turned private security for the wealthy family of a commercial shipping fleet. When his boss dies in a hit, Cole sets out on his own to solve the case. He soon finds himself embroiled in a human trafficking ring that has been secretly running for years and needs a bald British badass to shut it down.

There are a lot of bullets, knives stab into bodies, and fists crack into jaws. All the ingredients that go into a Jason Statham action movie special. But if you're looking at that ingredient list, you're not going to be left thinking, "where's the salt?" Actually, you're going to be thinking, "where's the meat?" The absence of substance to this story is so blatant at this stage. I feel like I watch a Statham action piece churn through the same points over and over again. He's a tough but likeable guy, with a mysterious tough guy past. He leads a simple, happy life with an often older figure he perceives as akin to his family. The bad event happens. Suddenly Statham is on a big revenge spree against a rather unhinged bad guy. He often finds a leading lady along the way; she's tough enough to shoot at least one bad guy, but never quite as tough as Statham. Everything will work out; there'll be a twist that's so obvious your pet dog probably could guess it. And if you're lucky, Statham will end the film with a quick little one-liner that will fizzle, not sizzle. It's tough making soulless cash grab action, but someone has got to do it.

Admittedly, I'm pretty tough on Mutiny. I feel it is the latest in a long string of Jason Statham-led action features that have just abandoned trying for the sake of the audience. They feel like the story is prioritised last. However, this film really does have some violent pieces of action choreography that really impressed me. In fact, the stunt work of the film seems to be the real saving grace. Conflict has a bit of heat to it, and moves like electricity. If our characters are caught between shipping containers, it's a confined, messy brawl. There's a classic sequence of our main guy just picking off henchmen like he's shucking corn. And it's called Mutiny; of course, the final fight has Statham fighting with boat paraphernalia.

You have to give it up for the one constant in all of this: Jason Statham understands exactly how to deliver that everyman rough ' tough hero. He wears a basic action movie premise like a glove and knows how to have a mean edge while maintaining a bit of charisma. Statham was far from the best performance in all of this, however. I loved Ramon Tikaram as his first-act boss and father figure. Tikaram had such a quiet and gentle sensibility to him that really added an emotion to this film that just evaporated after the first fifteen minutes. I also had a soft spot for Adrian Lester's US Navy captain and his wry remarks about the events unfolding upon the central boat.

The design of the film only really came to life when the action was really being cranked up. Those moments were like watching the camera jolt to life. Which put the majority of the film into a rough and jarring comparison. There's only so many poorly framed close-ups of Statham's big bald head I could muster before wondering if the creative juices just weren't flowing here. This film is edited with all the care of a studio that just wants to see this thing pushed out the door. For that matter, the musical score gets a similar treatment. I really didn't feel much across this movie because there was no real effort to make this audio-visual medium really come to life.

I really cannot tell you what Annabelle Wallis was doing in this film other than ensuring the film could safely say it had managed to hire an actress. Wallis' character of Angie is a divorced Mum who traipses around freighter ships bemoaning her lack of visitation rights and occasionally sniping that she got 'fired from the Navy'. It's tough to understand why this character is here at the best of times; she's only on the human trafficking ship because one of the bad guy crew members called in sick (real tight criminal operation). Wallis tries the tough guy act, but it's just not really her bag. The film also fails to find an antagonist worth writing home about. Kluth's business baddie is paper-thin, while Kular's heel turn can be predicted within the first ten minutes of the film. The main antagonist played by Roland Møller is a ship captain who aggressively lurches around his boat, climbing ladders and making the most bizarre tactical decisions you've ever heard. Møller often seems a little unsure of what word is going to come out of his mouth; there are a lot of long pauses before dialogue that make his ability to deliver lines sound unimpressive.

If there's one thing I can depend on, it's that Jason Statham will show up every year with one of the worst action films I have ever watched. I would give Mutiny a 2.5/10.

The End Of Oak Street

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The End of Oak Street is a science-fiction thriller about an American 1980s neighbourhood suddenly being teleported 200 million years in the past. Now the American suburbs are going to have to contend with surviving dinosaurs.

I found End of Oak Street to be such a hilariously nonsensical film. This is the sort of movie that has a nutty premise and just does not know whether to play it straight or be in on its own absurdity. Across the film, there are so many moments where I found myself laughing at the film, and rarely any moments where I felt like I was laughing with it. Why does the local librarian know so much off the cuff about 200 million year old flora? Why does the film try to genuinely make a polaroid photo of Ewan McGregor standing in front of two dinosaurs having sex an emotional plot device? Why did the asshole neighbour get out on his roof to shoot at pteranodons? It's a movie that starts because vague solar flares have been happening, so of course they lead to prime American real estate being displaced through time. But don't fear, there are smaller time bubbles for our characters to throw themselves through and find their happy ending. It's a film that is quite comfortable with playing things on the nose; as dinosaurs start swarming the streets, we get an oblivious family climbing into a car whilst singing the Flintstones theme song.

Yet, there is an incredible sense of thrill to this feature at times. Those moments where the parents stalk through the early morning hours of the neighbourhood and we're greeted with glimpses of dinosaurs. Before finally having Ewan McGregor run for his life from a raptor with a baseball bat as his primary means of defence. There is a lethality to the dinosaurs, even if those moments come in drips and drabs. I do think a lot of this film would have worked more if it let itself be scarier. The scene in the librarian's house where the family becomes trapped is an excellent example of the sort of scenes that have you right on the edge of your seat. Even the moments of characters slowly walking about at night, trying to survive, have a good atmosphere to them, even if the scenes peppered throughout can be utterly hilarious.

This is a film that really dwarfs two fine actors in lead roles. I thought the little stereotypical American family who seem dysfunctional wears pretty thin. Ewan McGregor plays his part well, if not a little comically at times, as the loser Dad who's just trying his best. I actually had a lot of fun with PJ Byrne as Mel, the asshole neighbour who doesn't like the lead family very much. There are also some minor characters that are more puzzling than anything. Anne Gee Byrd as Denise's neighbour/debut novel editor is rather forgettable. While Jordan Alexa Davis' Jeanette character doesn't add anything of substance to the film. The two siblings often feel very offbeat; Christian Convery's role is a bit too pathetic for his own good, and Maisy Stella's closeted big sister doesn't feel entirely actualised. But it's Anne Hathaway as Denise who really shines in this film. She has a real intense streak that marks her as a natural survivor, while also finding the points she needs to appear more grounded as a suburban Mum. 

The special effects design for the dinosaurs is excellent; those were creatures that felt dangerous and looked a little bit distinct from other Jurassic-style films. But I was often finding myself disappointed with how this film was shot. There's a hideous scene in the second storey of the house where there's an intense close-up on a family member's face for half the screen for almost the entire scene. It's one glaring example amidst many poor shots across the feature. I also felt like the soundtrack could have been pondered on a bit more; watching Audrey tearfully sing 'Valerie' in the car did not have the effect the film was shooting for.

This is a film that often feels like a spoof of itself. I would give The End of Oak Street a 3.5/10.

One Night Only

 

This review may contain spoilers!

One Night Only is a romantic comedy set in an alternate-reality America, where it is illegal to have premarital sex all year bar one night. When Owen's partner leaves him to explore her own sexual desires, he is left to work out what this night will mean for him. While Allie doesn't want a hook-up, she wants to find a love story of her own. Will these two find what they're looking for, and could it be with each other?

I think sometimes a romantic comedy being willing to have a bonkers premise can actually elevate it. The big thing that this film has going for it, in truth, is this insane concept that sex is only available for single people one night of the year. There's an early point of the film where a Secretary (Franke) is explaining the political right-wing landscape that justifies this unusual setting. Across the film, we learn that everyone had to consent to a bio-scanner that tracks if you're engaged in sex year-round. It's entirely dystopian and yet the most unbelievable part of the film is how nonplussed everyone seems about it all. This film occasionally stands up and talks about what living under such a mandate feels like, but most of the time it's all being played for comedy. I mean Flavor Flav is the televised celebrity leading the one night of sex countdown. Don't get me wrong, watching Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner start a condom heist or, through a comedy of errors, wind up in a police station is entertaining. But more often than not, One More Night doesn't have much going on with the story it's telling, feeling confident in placing our protagonists in embarrassing comedic scenarios.

The big issue I struggled with in One Night Only is that the core relationship just didn't impress me that much. Owen and Allie feel like they are pushed into the path of one another, and as a result we should be invested in their relationship. But there are so many awkward moments, or points where their path towards one another just comes across a little forced. The ending at the lighthouse is a good example of a moment that feels signposted from a million miles away. Yet, even though we see it coming as an audience, there's disappointment seeing Owen meet her just outside the lighthouse holding two cups of coffee. There's a strangely chaste quality to the ending that feels like the story is saying there's less romance in a sexual connection. The film just really stumbles about a lot, unsure of its own position and trying to appeal to a wide audience over telling an engaging story.

Beyond those points around chemistry, I still have to say that Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner give some of the best acting in the film. These leads really do stand out in a big way even if their relationship dynamic needed a little more work. Barbaro is playing someone who is really seeking a genuine connection and keeps taking an unfortunate wrong turn. She also gets a chance to sing throughout the film, and an already stunning soundtrack is all the better for that. While Callum Turner is a simple, charismatic gentleman who winds up being a bit of a bumbling himbo at times. Turner gets to lead the comedy of this feature, which means he really puts himself out there across the film and delivers some great laughs.

I have a lot of faith in Will Gluck's ability to construct a romantic comedy; he's got Easy A and Anybody But You under his belt. This is a film that really captures a wildly adventurous New York in a very indie style. I really found that this film had a gentle comfort and gracefulness to the way the camera captured this nighttime setting. Even if there were times the film lost its own sense of pace due to the editing, one of the strengths was inevitably how gorgeous it all looked.

This film is an interesting peppering of talent. Quintessa Swindell as Barbaro's hype woman is great, but not half as brilliant as the comedic talent of Mateo Ray, the kid you hate to babysit. Allie also hooks up with Max, played by Andrew Burnap, who is a charming conman who really steals a good chunk of this movie. Sydney Cole Alexander has a similarly great scene with Turner, for that matter. Maya Hawke really grounds the story as Turner's frivolous girlfriend who doesn't want to sleep with him the one night she can. Callum Turner also lucks out with a very fun duo for his parental figures, his Mum being portrayed by Molly Ringwald and LeVar Burton, the man she is hooking up with.

There are some performances I just didn't understand the point of, or that felt like gratuitous cameos. The movie has this very intrusive scene in which Bobby Cannavale and Pete Davidson are portraying themselves filming a cop film. It's a weird, disruptive moment that doesn't even succeed in feeling funny. King Princess contributes well to the soundtrack but isn't very believable as Barbaro's friend. Michelle Hurd's detective role disappears in this like smoke. Julia Fox apparates into this for a second as a prospective hook-up option for Turner, which is a boring use of her. The film even takes the characters out to a New York celebrity party, which is an odd setting for the film to divert to. It's probably the weakest portion of the feature, except for introducing Craig Gillespie's douchebag musician and giving a good piece of music from Barbaro. I wish I could forget Ella Loudon's Vivian role, quite an uncomfortable character at times. 

An unusual premise that catapults the film before sending it plummeting. I would give One Night Only a 4.5/10.

Savage House

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Savage House is a dark period comedy of errors following the rogue Sir Chauncey Savage and his lady wife as they flirt with social and financial ruin. When they are due to be visited by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, their prospects look to be turning around. However, they will have to rise above their own turgid state to host members of the nobler class.

No one does wickedly dark and dour comedies quite like the British. Savage House features a cast of the worst people you've ever met, mucking it all up as they plummet towards their own destruction. I really enjoyed this concept of the Savages, a landed family who could once boast wealth, but lost all of that once Sir Chauncey married into the family. Across this film, we learn Sir Chauncey is something of a brigand and a rogue, a thief and a liar. He has a history of bad behaviour, and now that he finds himself with more of a position in the world, he clings to status with a mad sort of desperation. Even Lady Savage is alight with the thought of power and pursuing their familial ambitions at all costs. The only rub here is that Chauncey has been manipulating financiers for years; they are in debt and continue to face ruin at a rapidly accelerating rate as the dinner with the Duke and Duchess draws closer. Chauncey is terribly afraid of being rendered a man who lives 'in the muck' again, haunted by visions of squalor. Richard E. Grant leads the film in this role, and he is absolutely perfect for it. He knows how to play to Chauncey's garish and exuberant nature; there's a part of him who seems dimly good-natured while also naturally duplicitous. His descent into mania as the film wholly casts the characters into ruin is a superb bout of acting and is just another great performance under Grant's belt.

This is a film that really depends upon more nuanced and connecting character relationships to work. All of the figures in this film weave against and alongside one another. Chauncey sleeps with his wife's maid, just as Lady Savage is having an affair with the footman. The footman, Halifax, is best friends with Chauncey and has saved his life upon many an occasion. Both Halifax and the maid, Dorothy, are romantically entangled and plot the demise of at least one of their employers. It's a messy, treacherous web where the humour comes from characters blindly staggering about into and through one another's personal stories until everything comes to a tumultuous, inevitable head. Claire Foy leads the film alongside Grant, and really lives in the role. Foy's ability to present a character from a more noble background who revels in the chaos and ego herself is what makes the character mesh so seamlessly with Grant. Yet, I also enjoyed that, faced with pressure, her character began to change and adapt to someone more readily proficient for a higher society dynamic. Jack Farthing's turn as Halifax is one of the real hits of the film as well; he is this quietly confident servant/friend who actually makes the schemes come together. I also was really struck by Kila Lord Cassidy, who played Fanny Savage. The way she is so full of hope for the future and fascinated by scientific discovery makes her a bright spark amidst the debauchery.

However, there are plenty of excellent character performances that breathe life into the period setting of this feature: McCabe, Pepperdine, Way and Godwin all do excellent work in this. Even Robert Bathurst's hilarious, dry narration lends a decent edge, even if it's a bit of a simple device to move things forward. This is a feature with extremely considered elements. The score is a haunting and grim piece that rings forth the tragedy our characters seem oblivious to. While the camerawork is really capitalising on the locations, and toys with making art of the absurdity. However, I did grow a bit tired of the way this film was coloured after a while. The bleak blues, yellows and greys that wash over this film and cast it in a grim light are often a bit too obvious. A bleak film that begets bleak colours seems a simplistic choice. Even the move of the eclipse washing over Savage House right as their doom comes seemed a bit on the nose.

That's probably the thing Savage House struggles with the most as a film. You can see quite clearly where this is all heading. There's going to be a bad ending; the characters are sure for ruin. There's not a moment where you really believe fortunes will turn around, and I never felt especially tricked into believing the trajectory of the feature would ever change. This can be a difficult sort of feature to watch. Because then when you're left with gross imagery and themes of misery lived and impending, it's hard to find variety in the storytelling. There was a real chance for Savage House to probably get a bit bolder with what it was doing or move left when you thought it was going to turn right. Bel Powley's performance of Dorothy is a good example of a character that never found the comedy, and so she just became this static, dark and miserable thing in the film. There were opportunities for the film to do more; Pip Torrens' Mr Black was quite a dull antagonist, and yet the film could have made something out of his character. I found this film flourished with the sort of comedy it was presenting, and it knew what it wanted to be. It just needed the courage to go that little bit further.

A wildly clever spat of comedy that juggles devastation and hilarity superbly. I would give Savage House a 7.5/10.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

This review may contain spoilers!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the fourth film in the latest Spidey franchise and the 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now that everyone has forgotten Peter Parker, he is living life as a crimefighter in isolation. But when a new telepathic foe threatens New York, it might also force Peter to face his past and his demons.

This is a film that just really understands Spider-Man through and through. The spell Doctor Strange cast has rendered Peter alone, yet steadily he is building himself back a life from that. Now the webhead is one of New York's greatest heroes. We are treated to an exceptional montage of Spidey becoming that street-level hero fans have been clamouring for. At the same time, it's an instance of Peter weathering the difficult road laid before him, pushing the divide he now has with his friends and loved ones to the side while he completely throws himself into doing the right thing. But the pain Peter is weathering conceals a darker side; he is living a life where he has really been put through the wringer, and now his enhanced DNA is mutating to adapt. This is a film in which Spider-Man faces an internal battle, just as much as he's fighting bad guys. While Peter struggles with his loneliness, his own physiology begins to shift on him, and he starts frantically fighting for control. It's a narrative that forces him to stop fighting with himself, to confront his problems head-on, and to become stronger for it. It marks a decent parallel journey with the main antagonist, which is brought to focus in the final act. I really think Tom Holland leads Peter through this journey exceptionally well; it's an evolution for this Spider-Man, and he proves more than up to the task.

Like any superhero world, a lot of strength is in how lived-in the story feels; how this fantastical but familiar world is crafted. Destin Daniel Cretton already showed that he understands this better than most with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but this feels like a step up. Visually, this is a Spider-Man film that sees the way our favourite webhead moves looking more dynamic than ever before. It takes every action set piece and prioritises seamless movement, while holding emotional key points, looking intimate and with an interesting colour palette. The special effects seen throughout have a really consistent quality of design to them, from the psychic hold scene through to the Hulk sequence. This has probably been the best use of Damage Control in the MCU, with Tramell Tillman presenting a more manipulative role I hope to see make a return. The main antagonist is such a creative pick, and Sadie Sink does wonders with her. More than that, this is the best use of The Hulk we have seen in ages. I just liked the quiet moments of dialogue around the university Ruffalo and Holland got to trade with one another. Even Michael Giacchino's score lifts us through some dark patches or layers an intense edge to the action; and Tame Impala's addition to the soundtrack has blown up for good reason.

It's not always a perfect ride, even if it is soaring high. This is a film that is really starting to show what being in the late 30s of film sequels does to a franchise. It's long and full of characters not everyone is going to know and love. You could be forgiven for not really remembering Michael Mando as Mac Gargan; I wouldn't really say he does much beyond look cool here either. Similarly, the start of this film is also content with throwing the Punisher at you, or having Yelena make a super strange cameo, and later we discover Bruce Banner is a lecturer now. Even watching Spidey have his own Commissioner Gordon type in Liza Colón-Zayas was a new feature to rapidly accept and learn. There's a lot for a fan of this franchise, but it's bordering on too much at times. In saying that, I really did love Jon Bernthal making his big-screen debut as Frank Castle; watching the Punisher and Spider-Man banter was probably my favourite thing about this whole feature. 

I loved Sadie Sink in this, but her character is quite sinister at the beginning, and it is hard to feel convinced by her redemption later on. She does some pretty questionable actions for a character we should feel a lot of empathy for by the film's end. Alongside that, I didn't feel like this film really knew how to weave the more character-driven story of Peter being isolated and changing with the story of the main antagonist striking out at Damage Control. This was really shown by us still receiving a lot of information in the final act to make all the pieces work. Yet, there's still heart here, and it's the really strong sense of character writing this blockbuster boasts that sets it apart as one of my favourite films so far this year. Zendaya carries a lot of those emotional beats, and the work she does with Holland really breaks these characters apart and knits them back together. Jacob Batalon is still so earnest and effortlessly likeable, with his final scene being the perfect end note. Even Marisa Tomei returns for one emotional gut-punch of a scene.

It's a new era for Spider-Man films and a pretty exciting one at that. I would give Spider-Man: Brand New Day an 8.5/10.

 

The Dink

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Dink is a sports comedy film about former junior tennis prodigy Dustin Boyd. Now a trainer at his father's tennis club, Dustin sees a chance to prove his worth to his father when the tennis club clashes with the local pickleball players. Will Dustin reclaim his tennis glory days, or will he discover something new about himself through the sport of pickleball?

Happy Gilmore. Dodgeball. Blades of Glory. Sport comedies used to be a thriving sub-genre where some of the most prolific comedy actors put a decent bend on a sports concept. The Dink wants to propel us through one of the fastest-growing modern sports trends: pickleball. The one enduring trope that seems to work well across the mediums is that an older man-child learns to grow up and take responsibility for his life through playing the sport hilariously. Jake Johnson leads this film and presents quite an arrogant tennis player, whose own sense of ego sees him hurt. He has to learn a bit of empathy through playing pickleball and coming to appreciate another sport. Johnson has a casual, dry wit that is absolutely brilliant and suits the rough edges of our protagonist. Yet, watching him slow down and actually fight for something in the last match of the film is something special.

In saying all of that, this is a film that just doesn't hit. It's a very simplistic comedy; the main character is stunted and needs to grow up, confronting the father issues the film keeps throwing up. Overall, The Dink likes to play it tame, but silly. The tennis club is a pretentious institution that thumbs its nose down at those who play pickleball. Yet we get a very leisurely point of conflict, with both sides looking to play against one another lest pickleball be banned from the club. All the while, our lead character is sedately weaving his way through porn-obsessed doctors and the same back-and-forth he has going with his father (Harris) all film long. The move to playing pickleball is a series of dull instances of skit comedy, not really instilling much change in our lead beyond a mega crush on an older pickleball player, Candance. The film then detours pretty heavily to ponder this romantic storyline before bumbling back to the schoolyard competition to see if pickleball is banned from the club. This is the sort of comedy that really can't leave you laughing all the time; it works at points but is equally as capable of missing the mark.

There are some points where I looked at the cast and couldn't really believe the talent that had shown up for this. Ed Harris might be in one of the more boring roles of his career, but he leans into that 'Dad who is hard to find love from' persona. Likewise, having a comedy veteran like Mary Steenburgen creates some witty camaraderie between her and Johnson. I was almost disappointed that they built in the older woman romance story; it felt like a waste of what Steenburgen was able to bring to this feature. Even Chloe Fineman's couple of scenes as a demanding ex-girlfriend really brought a bit of energy to this film. Although nothing quite prepared me for what the tennis players would bring to the acting aspect of this. Andy Roddick made a good competitive foil for Johnson in this, while John McEnroe very nearly steals the movie with his comic sports commentary.

The soundtrack for this film has some character-defining moments when using the western music, while also remaining hilarious with some brilliant needle drops. Britney Spears' 'Work Bitch' playing while Aaron Chen gives that incredible swimming scene is perhaps my favourite scene of the film. But The Dink was often lucky to have Chen; you could never really predict where he was going to go.

I also found that, like a lot of comedies, there wasn't a lot of effort put into making this film look special. A sports comedy is rife with action, so there should be something visually impressive in its design. The Dink just never really manages to find its own visual language, instead delivering quite a dull-looking feature. Even the way this film is stitched together results in a slower pace. I didn't really understand why some comedians staked themselves against this. Chris Parnell is here doing absolutely nothing, while Ben Stiller plays a doctor whose one gag is to try and convince the main character to search and browse a porn site. If that last part sounds a bit hit and miss for you, then you're starting to understand why The Dink drops more balls than it hits. 

The revival of sports comedies is looking woeful. I would give The Dink a 4.5/10.