The Medicine Hat coincidence
I would only need three of my fingers and one opposable thumb to recall the amount of times I’ve looked forward to seeing a movie. In no particular order and until last week, those movies would be The Big Lebowski, Guardians of the Galazy (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), MadMax: Fury Road and Empire Strikes Back. I’d like to add another flick to that list after witnessing a little piece of under the radar motion picture magic that I feel every Canadian needs to experience, especially those that live beneath the prairie sun.
With a Canadian soundtrack that matches some sincerely inspiring cinematography, I dare you to watch this flick and then not become a hitchhiker, truck driver, or biker for the sole reason the scenery in ‘One Week’ does steal the show and will have you craving a road trip. Now I’ve watched enough of the silver screen to know that Canada does not rank No. 1 under the column of blockbusters for a reason and if you don’t believe me I’ll sum up my point in four words; ‘Bon Cop, Bad Cop’.
‘One Week’ could quite possibly be the atypical blue lobster of the Canada movie world; you want to believe there’s something great and rare out there but until you experience it for yourself, you have your doubts and I don’t blame you for all the jam filling at Tim Hortons. I know it’s a risk and maybe 87 minutes of your life that you won’t get back but it’s a positive gamble, kind of like a Canada Savings Bond except with a much higher return of emotional investment. (And no, I don’t get any royalties from said flick.)
If you’ve travelled this incredibly large country in person, you may be reminiscing in amusement as scenes of the world’s largest lawn chair, pipe, Muskie and yes, even the world’s largest teepee rear their oversized engineering heads, connecting it to your memories of travelling across the great white north in the back seat of your parents’ Buick. And those of you with a discerning eye will pick out several more Medicine Hat and area landmarks, some that we’ve possibly deemed underrated only because of our innate ability to render the interesting and sometimes awe inspiring as routine.
Tino’s Drive-In is a setting for this movie concerning a lustful moment, a lonely cowgirl and what I’ll assume to be a lucky guy. Other tidbits include stops in Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park which was probably my personal highlight for I had been appreciating Dinosaur Provincial Park the very day I rented ‘One Week’, completely unaware that I would later be looking at it on the home screen. Well, that and the scene where Gord Downie of the Hip plays the role of a trucker and waxes philosophy, in front of the Ranchmen Hotel, complete with the lit-up vacancy sign. That moment alone is worth the rental, if not the purchase of ‘One Week’.