Thank goodness for Sky Atlantic! We have been able to watch 7 DAYS IN HELL this side of the pond after the mockumentary aired in the States on HBO and what crazy, chaotic entertainment it brought.
7 DAYS IN HELL is disguised as an HBO sports documentary that is a fictional account of the world’s longest tennis match, which took place in the summer of 2001 and lasted for seven straight days.
The match ended up being a week long showdown between Aaron Williams, the Andre Agassi-like adopted brother of Serena and Venus Williams, and Charles Poole, a British child prodigy who is definitely not the most intelligent of players.
Having reservations about watching a programme based on a long-running tennis match is very natural as the plot could make an audience tire very quickly, but 7 DAYS IN HELL is very surprisingly entertaining – mainly because it is so absurd!
It starts off as a spoof of HBO Sports-style documentaries with the biographies of the two players creating huge stakes for things that don’t seem very important. There is a good mix of people like Serena Williams playing herself and Will Forte and Fred Armisen playing tennis experts.
The narrative arc for this documentary is rather chaotic, has many peaks and troughs and on occasion it is borderline crazy. However, with the likes of real life tennis stars such as Serena Williams and John McEnroe involved, it does add so much more of a comedic element to it. It even pokes light-hearted fun at former player Björn Borg and his reputation for designing underwear line and there’s a rather hilarious point that seems to go on and on even as the two men are crawling around on the court trying to win.
At some parts with the sexual innuendos and visuals, it is not hard to wonder, what on earth? Despite this, when the tennis action begins to start and Harington and Samberg commence their sketch on the court, that is when the laughs begin and the 45 minutes become rather entertaining, but be prepared for even more nudity… and streaking… and definitely inappropriate acts that should not be happening on a tennis court.
