7 Days in Hell (Review)

7 Days in Hell (2015)

Comedy, Sport

Directed By: Jake Szymanski

Good news folks, you don't have to be any kind of sports fan to enjoy this one. The genius little mockumentary 7 Days in Hell follows two of the greatest tennis players of all time and how they ended up in an epic match that lasted seven days. The film airs this Saturday on HBO but if you have either of their streaming services (GO or NOW) then you are able to check it out early and I highly recommend doing so. This is not only a brilliant piece of comedy but it also an intelligent satire about the overdramatizing of the sports world and how we as fans eat it all up.

Starring Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Aaron Williams the estranged and adopted brother of Venus and Serena Williams and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) as Charles Poole, England's tennis jewel, the mockumentary explores how the two ended up in a seven day tennis match. It starts all the way back in their earliest days of playing and leads us all the way through and up to the epic match. We follow Aaron as he rises and falls as the bad boy of the tennis world and we see how Charles Poole has been bred since birth to be the greatest player there ever was (even if his education had to fall to the side). It all leads us to a crazy match that would span seven days and feature drugs, sex, violence and just about anything else you can think of making it one of the seminal moments in sports history.

This has got to be one of the most incredible, hilarious, satirical, and truthful mockumentaries I have ever seen. While being a completely raunchy, obnoxious comedy it still manages to be a highly intelligent satire about the sports world and how we, as fans, build it up to be so much more than it is. The film pokes fun at how we manage to turn sporting events into nationalism and in turn make the game into so much more than just a game. The players use psychological warfare and do whatever they can to throw of the other game, through the media the match gets built into a national rivalry. It's basically one over the top representation of our relationship with the sports world.

As good of a satire as this is, the film executes and delivers best as a comedy. With Andy Samberg and Kit Harrington leading and a whole supporting cast of insanely talented people this film is drop dead funny from start to finish. Samberg is his usual self and that is perfect for his role, he is obnoxious, rude, cocky and a general showoff. Kit Harrington is the real standout here though as we get to see a comedic side to the actor who is known for his serious role of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. He plays a simple minded guy who has done nothing but play tennis his entire life and his dimwitted demeanor is a complete departure from everything else we have seen him in. With cameos and small supporting roles from familiar faces like Will Forte, Karen Gillan, Mary Steenburgen, Serena Williams and so many more this short mockumentary is an achievement in comedy.

With Andy Samberg looking to use the same mockumentary style for his upcoming The Lonely Island film this is a promising look into what that could be. It's great to see him picking better projects recently as he is super talented and has been wasted in so many forgettable and stupid movies. I also love seeing Kit Harrington trying some different shoes on for size, after blowing up on game of Thrones this is a face we will be seeing plenty more of so it is great to see him treading into uncharted waters. Like I stated in the opening, you don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this movie. Yeah there are some jokes that land better if you follow the world of sports but overall this is slapstick, raunchy comedy that aims to make you laugh, a lot. If you have HBO or HBONOW I definitely recommend checking this out first chance you get, it's wonderful comedy. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!