7 Days in Hell (2015 TV Movie)
7/10
A game for the ages!
18 August 2015
"They could theoretically play forever, which is scary for somebody like me who doesn't much like watching tennis."

Jake Szymanski's 7 Days in Hell is a spoof of sport documentary films similar in style to the 30 For 30 ESPN series. This hilarious 40 minute short written by Murray Miller, stars Andy Samberg and Kit Harington as two famous tennis players who made history when their Wimbledon match lasted seven days. Since the film is made in documentary style format we get fun interviews from the likes of Serena Williams, David Copperfield, and John McEnroe among others. Samberg plays Aaron Williams, a wild athlete who was raised by the Williams' family (A racial reversal of The Blind Side as Serena jokingly claims). Despite his wild behavior and crazy hair he quickly climbed the tennis ranks. However when he was about to reach the pinnacle of his career, a crazy incident during a final match forced him to abandon tennis and retrieve to Sweden. During his absence, a new star arose: Charles Poole (Kit Harrington), a well mannered mama's boy British player who is not too bright. During an interview he claimed to be the best tennis player of all time and that is what sparked Williams to want to return. Upon his comeback, the two face off in court during the first round of Wimbledon and what ensues is simply hilarious.

Sport fans everywhere will have a great time with this short spoof documentary full of silly and witty humor. It is absurd and overly raunchy so the humor might not work for everyone. We all know what Samberg is capable of, so Harrington is the one who truly surprises here with his comedy. Williams reminded me of a young Agassi and of course they went over the top with this character. The side-stories that at times seem to be getting off track work to the film's advantage. They include animated scenes in Swedish prisons and a short bio of a famous jury cartoonist. The producers knew exactly how far they could go with this premise and at 40 minutes they seemed to reach the perfect running time before the joke ran out of steam. It would've been a mistake to make this a full length feature film.

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