Jeff Hamm’s Pickleball takes America’s fastest-growing sport and wraps an underdog comedy around it that’s as much about family as it is about dinking and volleying. At its heart, it’s a story about two brothers scrambling to hold onto the one thing their late father left them.
Solomon’s Porch is a special kind of community rec center that appears pretty typical with aerobics classes and a weight room, but its specialty is the pickleball courts. What gives the rec center a community feel is its owner, Barry Thompson (Jay Dee Walters), and his best friend, Father Joseph (Kevin P. Farley). Also, “helping” is his son, Earl, a twenty-something slacker more interested in beating a kid named Billy Sinclair at video games than anything else adult-related.
Barry also has a girlfriend, Daisy (Stephanie Parker), who has a nose for money — mostly Barry’s. While playing doubles against Father Joseph, Barry has a heart attack, and just like that, he’s gone. He leaves everything to his two sons, Miles (Willie Mellina) and Earl, but there’s a problem. Daisy burned through his savings while he was still alive, and now the boys are sitting on tens of thousands of dollars in debt with only thirty days to get caught up or watch Solomon’s Porch get sold out from under them.
Miles is the one who can actually do something about it. He left home years ago to pursue a professional sports career, only for a blown-out knee to end his promising future. Finding no other way to get that much cash…legally, Miles remembered that there was an upcoming pickleball tournament with a $100,000 prize. Miles is the athlete in the family; now he just has to get his gamer brother in shape, which is next to impossible with only three weeks to the tourney.
“Barry’s ghost haunts Father Joseph, making sure he helps the boys save Solomon’s Porch.”
Standing between the brothers and the prize is Bradley Sinclair (Major Dodge), a cocky pickleball pro, who confidently believes it’s his for the taking. Gold digger Daisy has now pivoted her attention straight to Bradley. The two of them form an alliance of their own, and their plan is to purchase Solomon’s Porch’s debt and keep the boys from winning the prize money. Meanwhile, Barry’s ghost haunts Father Joseph, making sure he helps the boys save Solomon’s Porch.
Pickleball is a silly comedy with a lot of heart, and best of all, it’s made for the whole family. The setup is fairly basic — two brothers have one month to save their father’s rec center or lose it forever. The trick is that Miles (Willie Mellina) and Earl (Justin Sterner) barely know each other. Miles is the failed athlete coming home to redeem himself, while Earl is the one who never wanted anything to do with the family business and has been chasing a dream of becoming a pro gamer without exactly having the skills to pull it off. Before they can save Solomon’s Porch, they have to figure out how to be brothers.
Kevin P. Farley is hilarious as Father Joseph, a man who is eager to be at the center of everything happening at the rec center but doesn’t quite have the stamina for it. The film plays the hero-and-villain dynamic straight, and it works. Miles and Earl are easy to root for, and when it comes to Daisy (Stephanie Parker) and Bradley Sinclair (Major Dodge), they are exactly the kind of heels you love to hate.
Pickleball is a streaming movie. The jokes are safe and silly, and I love the silliness. The humor, the heart, and the story all revolve around pickleball. If you happen to be caught up in that craze and want to get the kids involved in something fun? Pop the popcorn and make this one a family night.
For screening information, visit the Pickleball official website.
"…Pop the popcorn and make this one a family night."
