One Week

One Week is about Ben's (Jashua Jackson) final effort to find the meaning of life. Ben is a teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and told that with radical treatment he still does not have a very good chance at survival. On his way home from the doctor he sees a motorcycle for sale and buys it. Ben has decided that before he has to face his cancer, before he has to become a patient, he will try living his life and perhaps realizing a dream of becoming an author.

Ben takes off from Toronto, heading West, an a typical road trip movie ensues. As an audience we also get to enjoy the Canadian scenery (that made me really want to travel more in the country myself) as well as the cool and sometimes just plain odd roadside attractions (Camel, Paperclip, Banff, Hell's Gate, Nickel, Giant Hockey Stick, and the Stanley Cup). Ben also meets some people along the way that help him discover something about himself or his situation. One of them played by none other than Gord Downie! Ben also runs into two Newfies (perhaps the movie's way of working in the East Coast that Ben ignores on his trip) who are biking across Canada to win a case of beer (each) and are looking for a Canadian Tire. A truly priceless moment.

Eventually, Ben finishes his trip from Toronto to Tofino and must return home to face his current situation.
SPOILER: The movie is narrated and at the end we learn that the narrator is readin Ben Tyler's book One Week. He realized his dream of becoming an author before he died.

One Week gets two kernels - it is a nice movie to watch and take in the scenery, but it is ultimately a little forgetable and some people may find the lack of action a tad boring.