Day 79 -- One Week

Released: March 29th, 2011

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Liane Balaban, Emm Gryner, Jane Spidell 
  
Writer/Director: Michael McGowan

Description: Chronicles the motorcycle trip of Ben Tyler as he rides from Toronto to Tofino, British Columbia. Ben stops at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

Why does any director believe that a narrator adds any thing to a story. It goes against everything you are taught as a writer; it's telling instead of showing. Also, it really takes you out of the movie. If I wasn't watching this for the project, I would have turned it off like I did "Vicky Christina Barcelona".

"One Week" is the story of a man diagnosed with stage four cancer that has a very low survival rate. He decides that instead of starting treatment for the cancer, he's going to ride cross country (Canada) on his motorcycle. Thus begins a modern road movie.

Along the way he runs into several characters that all find a way to change his life, and make him understand what living is about before he passes. He smokes a joint with a cancer survivor who makes him realize that he may not be in love with his fiance, he has his bike repaired by a ranch owner who teaches him that he always should keep trying new things, and he runs into a hiker, who after a night of passion, helps him solidify that he want more in his life. These moments would all be boring segments if it wasn't for the charisma of lead actor, Joshua Jackson.

Jackson, like his "Dawson's Creek" cast-mate, James van der Beek,  has gotten much better at his craft with age. If it wasn't for Jackson's charm, the character of Ben would be completely unlikeable. But we deal with the selfishness and indecision because we inherently like Jackson. He has the rare ability to make you feel what his character is feeling without saying a word, and by the end, I wanted Ben to survive despite the odds.

Unfortunately, this movie was not a one-man show -- it was probably as close as you'll ever get, though -- and the supporting actors did nothing. Especially Liane Balaban, who played the fiance, Samantha. She was about as wooden and bland as you can get. Despite all of the emotion that should have been flowing through her, she was in complete monotone in every scene. She was way too calm and understanding for the situation. I would have taken one screaming argument, but alas, she took everything and gave up without a fight. Disastrous casting choice. And in terms of the road trip characters, none of them truly stood out and most of their scenes are forgettable.

The writing of the interactions Ben had and the conversations with his wife were spot on, but the side stories and especially the narrator, were very subpar. Outside of unneeded narration, making a character's small choices all of sudden help everyone he encounters is one of my major pet peeves. 

In two instances in the film, Ben indirectly saves a women from a train wreck by missing a doctor's appointment, and helps another fall in love by convincing her that she needs to visit her son. Both of these moments were completely unnecessary and after the revel that he wrote a book about his experiences, make Ben seem very narcissistic. These were the two reason -- side stories and narration -- why this film didn't get enough support to receive a limited release in the U.S., despite Jackson leading the cast.

The film gains a lot of points because of the story. While some of the telling aspects were bad, the idea that a man would put off cancer treatment to go live instead of start to die, is very compelling. The question of the movie is, 'what would you do if you had only one day, week or month to live?' And I think we would all want to have the experiences and the clarity gained by Ben during his journey. I really wish the script itself was better.

"One Week" is a film with so much potential that it's sad that the execution was so poor. The narrator added nothing, the side stories added nothing and the actress playing his fiance added nothing. All three of these could have easily be fixed: the narrator talks less, eliminate the side stories, and do a better job with casting. But sometimes indie films don't have much opportunity to see if something works before putting it in the movie, and I imagine it was especially difficult for this project because of the constant moving of filming locations across Canada. But that still doesn't excuse the terrible narration and the fact that a good director would have cut it from the script. It screams, 'look at me, I'm a clever writer,' but this is what happens with a mediocre writer/director.

Rating: 5.5/10 -- Could have been a powerful film if they left out the awful narration. Jackson is superb and is clearly carrying the rest of the cast. A very intriguing concept that is butchered by the writer/director. Did I mention that I didn't like the narration?