One Week on AllMovie

Confronted by his own mortality after being diagnosed with virulent form of cancer, a disillusioned twenty-something rails against the many disappointments in his life by impulsively purchasing a motorcycle and heading out west, instead of taking his doctor's advice to begin immediate treatment. Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson) has an unfulfilling job as a high school English teacher and a manuscript that's gathering dust after being rejected by every publisher in town. And while Ben is undeniably comfortable in his relationship with faithful fiancée Samantha (Liane Balaban), he can't help but feeling that there's something in their relationship that he has never truly confronted. Informed by his doctor that he is suffering from a highly malignant form of cancer and has only a 10% chance of survival if he begins treatment immediately, Ben rails against his fate by straddling a vintage motorcycle and embarking on a 4,000 kilometer journey from Toronto to Tofino, B.C., meeting a variety of people who help him understand what it truly means to be alive along the way. Later, while hiking in Banff, Ben becomes dangerously sick and desperately lost before an intense encounter with a woman named Tracey (Emm Gryner) convinces him once and for all that he isn't in love with Samantha. In the emotional aftermath of that encounter, Ben terminates his relationship with Tracey and makes a pledge to live a lifetime with each passing day. It isn't long before Ben's condition begins to deteriorate, however, and by the time he finally arrives at mile zero of the Trans-Canada highway, he's fresh out of road and seriously close to death.