You know you’re watching a Canadian film when the protagonist’s year of birth is measured in iterations of time since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won a Stanley Cup and when there’s an entire visual aid built around Roll-Up-The-Rim-To-Win. In the case of One Week, you can’t use “Canadian film” in the normal, art housey way; in fact, I saw it at a Cineplex Odeon. It’s an attempt at populist Canadiana and a pretty solid one to boot. It’s got a big name actor and the story plays like a reel for Tourism Canada, assuming the point is to attract tourists to locations where abnormally large representations of everyday objects sit.

One Week is the story of Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson), as semi-disaffected school teacher that’s told he has stage 4 cancer. As any young person would, he doesn’t take the news rather well considering that he needs to enter treatment right away if he has even a miniscule chance of recovery. So acting spontaneously, Ben buys a motorcycle and follows the fantasy advice of a RUTRTW Timmy’s cup and head west. His journey brings him in touch with interesting people across our strange and mysterious and wonderful land. Meanwhile, Ben’s finance (Liane Balaban) sits at home and wonders what to make of his irresponsibleness, while Ben himself ponders about his limited, potential futures.

The film is pretty Kerouacian and follows the typical highlights of your normal road trip movie. I will admit that despite the downer theme, there are some occasionally potent bits of humour, although I think I was the only one in the theatre laughing. Gallows’ humour is a tricky affair, so I don’t mind; it spoke to me anyway. But Ben’s core predicament is not exactly presented in any kind of life affirming way. One might argue that the fact that you’re told out of the blue that you’re a dead man walking is enough to turn your switch to morbid and let it ride. The message of the film though seemed to me that if you want to appreciate life, then you have to be one foot in the grave. Bummer.

I give acting props to Jackson because he certainly kept you in the moment and showed a range of expression not typically afforded to him. Jackson’s never really got an opportunity like this, and he obviously decided to run with it. Basically, he’s never going to live down the Mighty Ducks heckles (as evidenced at New York Comic Con) and even his latest work on TV’s Fringe makes me think of what if his Dawson’s Creek character turned out to be some disaffected genius. Here though, he’s solid. Even Ben’s morose self-pity stuff works because Jackson can make you feel the frustration. This is definitely a showcase for JJ, and he makes the most of his screen time.

But One Week didn’t offer me anything I could have gotten elsewhere, except maybe a new appreciation for how many places in this country covet large representations of inanimate objects. It’s not a fun movie per se, but it’s not without its charm, and shouldn’t have to be said that the all-Canadian soundtrack rocks. In the end though, it’s Jackson that sells you on the premise and the details by putting himself out there in a very substantive way. I applaud the effort even though I left the film without any grander notions of how to lead a life well-lived.