A mishit and a backfire from two new movies
“The Dink”
⭐⭐Rating: 2 out of 4
What if a top tennis player faltered in their career and had to slum it on the pickleball circuit? That’s kind of the loose “Happy Gilmore”—esque concept behind this not quite pickled-enough comedy that stars Jake Johnson (“New Girl,” “Drinking Buddies”) as said fictional tennis star Dustin Boyd. Boyd is a one-time rival of real-life great Andy Roddick, but an injury means he now toils as a club pro. When he dips his toe into the pickleball waters he gets crushed by a pair of 70-year-old grannies — Dustin, known as “The Hammer” in his tennis heyday, doesn’t understand finesse or the parameters of the smaller court. Then there’s the heralded, anemic drop-shot of the title (which the film uses as a running gag until it is past tired).
As the might-have-been superstar trying to pivot, Johnson doesn’t quite have the bravado needed for the part. The ace serve here — the script’s written by “Kevin Can F*** Himself” scribe Sean Clements—comes in Dustin falling for an older woman (a pitch perfect Mary Steenburgen) who’s not so sure she’s attracted to her younger suitor. The May-December pairing does score points when the two sit down for a movie night “date” and watch “The Graduate” and Dustin, busts on the other Dustin for having a big nose (Johnson has a pretty protuberant proboscis himself).
Directed by Josh Greenbaum (“Strays”) and co-produced by Ben Stiller, who has a small part too, the flick built around a feeble flick shot does best when the Greek chorus of feisty Floridian nanas are taunting Dustin and Roddick — who plays himself — in a match where the winner claims the deed to the tennis club owned by Dustin’s dad (Ed Harris, poorly used here). Heckling, it turns out, is the crosscourt humor that saves this cinematic dink from busted string ruin and John McEnroe’s woefully wooden intonations.
“Motor City”
⭐⭐1/2 Rating: 2.5 out of 4
Style over substance can be intoxicating — “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Sin City” — but does it satisfy? That’s the question served up here in this energetic actioner directed by Potsy Ponciroli (“Old Henry”) from a screenplay by Chad St. John (“Peppermint”) that’s set in 1970s Detroit during the reign of the muscle car.
To call “Motor City” a musical wouldn’t be wrong, but no one sings. In fact, it’s more a silent movie, with actors emoting wordlessly to power ballads from the era — “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers, Bowie’s “Putting Out Fire” and “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues among the many infectious, astutely curated throwbacks. It’s like the coolest music video from before there were music videos.
Also masterfully done are the sets and action sequences. What’s not so apex is the generic revenge arc of a love triangle — a gangster, his moll and the interloper she falls for. The gangster frames our hero, John Miller, performed by Alan Ritchson (“War Machine” and “Reacher”), a likeable actor perpetually playing characters who are little more than awkward slabs of beefcake. Sans dialogue, the lack of nuance becomes inescapable. What does work — besides retro cool vibe — is Boston-born actor Ben Foster as the smarmy gangster with the whole Detroit PD in his pocket and Shailene Woodley (“Divergent”) as the love interest. Lionel Boyce and Amar Chadha-Patel are also quite good as Miller’s loyal backups, but beside the novel approach, there’s not too much to get you revved up.
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