[8.4/10] The marriage between the self-seriousness of sports documentaries and the irreverence of The Lonely Island sense of humor is a match made in heaven. As someone who’s no stranger to a *30 For 30* doc or an SNL Digital Short, combining the two turned out to be better than I could ever have expected.

7 Days in Hell skewers any number of sports clichés, from the rule-breaking bad boy, to the stage-mom’d young prodigy, to the inevitable “rise and fall” narrative that these sorts of retrospectives take. Couching everything in the sport of tennis, and the attendant stuffiness, gives the film a chance to blend the high and the low in a delightful fashion. Playing off a real life extended tennis match to such wild extremes allows the film to mix the real and the fake and find the hilarity in the combination.

There’s also plenty of room for the absurd and ridiculous that are appropriate for something starring Andy Samberg. From David Copperfield randomly appearing (and partying) with competitors, to the Queen of England as a drunken mob boss type, to the insanity of how the match’s end and aftermath, there is plenty of the fun, random humor that Samberg’s braintrust specialized in.

The only real demerit on that front is that the jump to premium cable means a bit of gratuitous nudity and sexual content that feels way more in service of “look what we can do now!” than anything that really drives the comedy of the piece.

Still, on the whole, 7 Days in Hell is full of laughs, brimming with great comic performances from Andy Samberg, Kit Harrington, and a murderer’s row of supporting performers, and a gut-busting application of the prestige sports doc veneer to true sporting ridiculousness.

**It wasn't even a match. It was something else.**

This is a 45 minute mockumentary made for the television that was aired on HBO last year. Directed by a some television director, who recently made his feature film comedy, 'Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates'. It is an American film, but the story takes place in England.

This is the story of two top tennis players who class for a big match that lasts for the 7 days. You heard me right, the film reveals how the game was dragged for a week and in between that, some flashback clips and interviews were attached.

The film sets in the 2001, but when you look at the settings, particularly the players' appearances that gives the impression of the 70s or maybe the 80s. Whatever, it was so good, miles ahead to those real comedies from the recent time. The jokes were amazing, sometime I laughed loudly out of the control.

I think they designed this story and its characters so well. The actors, totally nailed it. I usually like Andy Samberg's films and his performances, but for the first time I liked him for real. If you ask me, I would say this is his best film so far I'd seen. Sadly, it was not a theatrical film.

Looks like the director aimed it for a short film, as he has made plenty of them prior to this. But I appreciated him for making it as an independent television episode with a fine length where he developed the story and its character brilliantly.

> "This is like nothing I've ever seen. Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular!"

Less than an hour, but the entire film was shot within the three days of time without compromising on the production quality. The actors too were not amateurs while displaying their sporting skills. Since it is a comedy, that could have been neglected, but really well done drafting those scenes accurately.

Recently Andy Samberg did another mockumentary on the music theme called 'Popstar; Never Stop Never Stooping', but looking at this one and its success, there won't be any surprise it is going to be turned into a feature film-come-mockumentary.

Of course the preference was given more to Andy's role, but Kit Harrington was equally amazing. He's in a very important role and I think between these two, it reminded me the Nadal and Federrer taking on each other.

There are some guest appearances which were very crucial for this tale to narrate what it wanted to tell in the most comedic way as much as possible. So there's no way you end up unsatisfied, but you should be open minded for that.

I was surprised by the overall film, Because I was not expecting it to be so smart, at a time funny as well. Definitely this film is for the grownups, because there are many adult jokes with unexpected nudities and sexes. But who cares, if you are old enough, just enjoy what it offers.

From the great title to the wonderful performances to the beautiful writing, this is definitely a must see. I hope you won't miss, especially if you are a tennis fan, you would find it a lot funnier than the others. My final word is, recommended!

_8.5/10_