One Week (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bently L

  
  One Week tells the story of a man named Ben who discovers that he has Stage 4 Cancer. This soon affects his life, family, and fiance. To escape his sadness, he goes trek to Western Canada on a motorcycle to spend his final weeks, days, or months. I stumbled across this film on… More
  One Week tells the story of a man named Ben who discovers that he has Stage 4 Cancer. This soon affects his life, family, and fiance. To escape his sadness, he goes trek to Western Canada on a motorcycle to spend his final weeks, days, or months. I stumbled across this film on Netflix under the "Romance" section which I think is misleading. There is a romantic relationship in the film but thats not the whole thing. The cover also looked like an entirely different film. The poster on the left of this review is more accurate. This is a very good and underrated film. Its a simple film with an easy plot to follow and it does not get all over the place. Little-known actor, Joshua Jackson, does a great job as the lead role and knows how to carry the scenes where only he is visible well. The rest of the cast is terrific. The narrator was great and funny as well. Because of its simplicity, this gets a 90% but for a 100% it'll need to get rid of one thing: the narrator. He was necessary at some points and at others, he was not. Some scenes were told in music and pictures like a Kubrick film and it should have been like that. Is it dramatic? Yes. It did warm my heart at the end. One Week is a simple and very good indie Canadian drama. Simplicity is one signal of a good film in my opinion. I'm suggesting this film to Simon M., The Creep, Brantastic16, Wisenheimer, and anyone who want to see this great drama. "I'm just searching for moments."

• Brad W

  
  Not a horrible movie, just dull and depressing one though. Saw it at a film festival, and it wasn't horrible, but Ive seen better.

• Daniel P

  
  Unfortunately, a very good performance by Joshua Jackson and some solid scenery - almost too much Canadiana, but bearable - go to waste in this otherwise poorly written and acted film. The story is good, but the lines are bad, and Liane Balaban - who I usually like - is completely out… More
  Unfortunately, a very good performance by Joshua Jackson and some solid scenery - almost too much Canadiana, but bearable - go to waste in this otherwise poorly written and acted film. The story is good, but the lines are bad, and Liane Balaban - who I usually like - is completely out of her league in the role and just appears to be going through the motions. A real letdown. I was expecting a homegrown companion to Motorcycle Diaries or Easy Rider, but One Week ran out of gas well before reaching its destination. And what's up with the gratuitous narration?

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  It was such a good film.. Sad, funny, and touching. Don't know what I would do if I was told I was going to die.. Maybe the same thing he did... It was set in Canada and I have never been there and just by looking at the scenery as he is taking his trip, its quite beautiful..… More
  It was such a good film.. Sad, funny, and touching. Don't know what I would do if I was told I was going to die.. Maybe the same thing he did... It was set in Canada and I have never been there and just by looking at the scenery as he is taking his trip, its quite beautiful.. maybe that's where I would take my road-trip..

• Arash X

  
  This theme have been used in many movies & this film is certainly not among the good ones, The narration sucks & the film left me with a "who cares?" feeling

• E.J. B

  
  Most Canadian films possess a feel of being second rate products manufactured in a system that really has no care for the art. One Week is no different. it's a second rate Into the Wild. But what makes it interesting is how it mirrors the main character's search for… More
  Most Canadian films possess a feel of being second rate products manufactured in a system that really has no care for the art. One Week is no different. it's a second rate Into the Wild. But what makes it interesting is how it mirrors the main character's search for identity with Canada's search for an identity. The film is filled with beautiful shots of the Canadian landscape, showing the country in a light that hasn't been seen in as long as I can remember. Over the last few years, there has been a rise in big budget Canadian productions like Shake Hands with the Devil and Passchendaele that reflect on Canada's part in world history. There have even been some cool genre pics with a Canadian twist like Pontypool and Bon Cop Bad Cop. One Week is the quintessesntial Canadian movie, a film that is as much about Canada in 2009 as it is about a motorcyclist's journey to find himself. Unfortunately, all these films have that second rate feel to them, a sense that these movies are American films replaced with Canadian characters. But it's nice to see the attempt at producing films that are actually watchable.

• Bradley W

  
  Not a horrible movie, just dull and depressing one though. Saw it at a film festival, and it wasn't horrible, but Ive seen better.

• Cameron J

  
  A touching and brilliant film that holds originality, a compelling story, beautiful scenery, good acting, strong characters, fun moments and emotionally powerful moments. Still, it's somewhat "Made-For-TV" at points, overuses the narrative at points, aswell as montages,… More
  A touching and brilliant film that holds originality, a compelling story, beautiful scenery, good acting, strong characters, fun moments and emotionally powerful moments. Still, it's somewhat "Made-For-TV" at points, overuses the narrative at points, aswell as montages, holds some unnecessary scenes and is, above all, extremely rushed for a while. All that aside, it is a fun, feel-good time that still manages to tug at your heartstrings. A beautiful tale.

• Jessica v

  
  Interesting, though somewhat meandering and overly philosophical. I found a sort of chest-puffing pleasure in pointing out familiar Canadian locales and cities (including my own!), though that served to be the majority of my entertainment. Don't get me wrong, the film is hardly… More
  Interesting, though somewhat meandering and overly philosophical. I found a sort of chest-puffing pleasure in pointing out familiar Canadian locales and cities (including my own!), though that served to be the majority of my entertainment. Don't get me wrong, the film is hardly stuffy, but it does have a distinctive artsy, ever-so-slightly-patronizing feel that bothered me. But the character study is fun to watch, if only in an at-arms-length way.

• Jay R

  
  A well played out love letter to Canada. The only thing I felt they could have left out was the voice over. Other then that, I liked it a lot.

• Jason S

  
  Decent low budget movie with strong acting performances and nice to see a movie set in Canada. Loved when he gets to Alberta although I must say the rest of the country looked pretty ugly actually for the most part. Good movie though with an excellent message of how to look at life.

Read all 11 featured audience ratings