The story of a young man who journeys across Canada after learning he’s terminally ill, the second feature by the director of Saint Ralph, is so demonstrative in its patriotism, it makes Passchendaele’s seem subdued. As if working through a checklist devised by some sinister CBC department, Michael McGowan packs One Week with such emblems of nationhood as Sudbury’s Big Nickel, the Stanley Cup and Gord Downie himself.  

If only there were more of a movie to go along with the fine scenery. Joshua Jackson is plenty likeable as Ben, a frustrated writer type who postpones his cancer treatment in order to conduct a trans-Canadian vision quest. But One Week is running on fumes even before Ben and his motorcycle make it from Toronto to Manitoba. Hampered by its relentlessly cutesy tone and frequent outbreaks of cloying sentimentality, the movie also suffers from a lack of dramatic incidents. A disappointingly shallow story about dying young Canuck style.