A Canadian man discovers he has cancer. He buys a motorbike and goes to Tim Hortons to buy a cup of coffee. He rolls up the rim that tells him "Go West" - so he heads West. You start with a cliché and it doesn't stop there.Bike trip. Lots of open road, nature, etc. Postcard as a film. A tourism promo masquerading as a film.Meets a random stranger who also had cancer. What are the chances? Lots of Canada clichés. Meets some kids who ask him (of all people) where's the nearest Canadian Tire.Meets a cowgirl and goes horseback riding. Meets a girl and they have a moment by a campfire, singing French Canadian songs(!!).Random animals. Random forest stuff. He falls asleep and is awoken by a Native American drumming ritual. Token wise old native man? Check.So we've included nature, Quebec (folk song), Natives, nature, sunsets, cowgirls, forests, animals, nature, Tim Hortons, what's left? Swims in a lake. Oh, random German tourist couple tell him that Canada is beautiful.Oh, and he goes on a hockey rink and kisses the Stanley Cup.When people think Canada is an uninhabited country, just one large forest with a micro-population that's just enough to man the Tim Hortons outlets at truck stops, can you blame them? It's a postcard, not a film. It was one Blackberry and a maple syrup donut away from being a total joke.It's fake depth. There was nothing deep about the man or his experience.If someone made a Swedish film about a man who travels Sweden, stops at an IKEA, listens to ABBA, stops somewhere for meatballs, everyone would laugh. But that's exactly what this film is.There's more to Canada than forests. It's sad that Canadians don't want to show the world the real Canada.This is a sorry excuse for a film. It's an Instagram feed, a series of Vines with a loose narrative and a weak soundtrack. Fake depth, shallow emotions, sepia filters, lens flare and photos of sunsets, desperate and needy, asking for likes, shares and retweets.

Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson) has stage-4 cancer and is given 10% chance to live. At most, he has a couple of years left. First thing that occurs to him is that he has an excuse to cancel his wedding to Samantha (Liane Balaban). He decides to buy an old motorcycle despite the disapproval of Samantha. When he rolls up the rim of his Tim Horton cup, it says "Go West Young Man". So he goes west on his bike for a road trip before returning for treatment and eventually his wedding.I don't particularly like the Campbell Scott narration. I don't mind him as an actor, but his voice by itself is grinding. This is a charming little Canadian movie by Michael McGowan. It does need a bit more quirky to raise the interest. This movie is chalk full of Canadiana. However that is not enough to make this a great movie. It just needs more than what it is... which is a gentle little Canadian travelogue mixed with an emotionally simple story.

### Couple of spoilers here so watch out if you're going to see it ### This film follows a young man's journey across his homeland of Canada after he receives some bad news. He decides to escape for one week of freedom before facing the music, much to the consternation of his fiancée and family.Over the course of the journey he meets some people, sees some sights, and reflects on his life, and his relationships with his fiancée/family. The whole thing is intermittently narrated by an unrelated third person, who talks you through flashbacks of the main protagonist's life, and provides other helpful trivia about him & the places he's visiting. Now I read that some people were annoyed by the narration. Got to say it didn't annoy me at all - felt it added a lot to it actually - some very interesting facts, and some fun stuff. Without all that I think it would have been a bit dry actually. In fact I'd go as far to say it's a clever mechanism for connecting you more with the main character.As you might expect, you get some nice shots of the Canadian countryside, though I felt that could've been exploited to better effect with the right shots.Everyone's different but I personally found it really hard to imagine an engaged guy in his predicament trying to hop in the sack with every woman he sees. Didn't sit right with me, unless the guy's a total slimeball which this character doesn't seem to be in every other respect. Just goes to reinforce the annoying Hollywood myth that any guy will try to do that with any girl he meets, regardless of whether he's married, in a relationship etc. Hey maybe there's some guys like that but I really don't think most are. Anyway I'm not so I don't care for the stereotype and it killed the movie a little for me.All in all, it's a relaxed, no brainer, kinda feel-good film ... yet tinged with an upsetting issue throughout. That said, it handles said upsetting issue in about as non-depressing fashion as possible. Not overly sentimental either. It doesn't try to be anything clever, just tells the story, which is a bold and welcome move these days. The main actors are pretty good, the cinematography's decent enough, and there's some cool music along the way. Oh and I thought the ending was a nice touch.How to classify this film? - sort of like Straight Story meets Dying Young(which I literally just found out starred the narrator of this film - knew I recognised that voice from somewhere!).

What would you do if you knew you only had a week to live? Based on the tag-lines alone I was worried about viewing this movie. I was quite pleasantly surprised. One Week is a beautiful simple film about discovering what's really important in life. Ben Tyler, portrayed with depth & grace by Joshua Jackson, has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. His reaction to this life altering news is not to jump immediately into treatment, instead he chooses to purchase a (beautiful) vintage motorcycle & head out across Canada. He takes a trek of self discovery from Toronto in the East all the way West to Tofino on Vancouver Island. This unexpectedly uplifting film is both a study on the human condition & a love letter to Canada itself. The breathtaking scenery is a character all its own & the soundtrack of wonderful Canadian talent flows elegantly throughout. The ending is just ambiguous enough for you to draw your own conclusions. It left me feeling hopeful and strangely renewed. It has become one of my favorite movies. Just lovely.