Gone with the Woman

Gone with the Woman is a breezy and lighthearted romantic comedy that’s basically entertaining, though there’s no denying that the film’s inability to make any kind of impact on the viewer ultimately hurts it. The film follows an affable (and nameless) everyman (played by Trond Fausa Aurvåg) through his various misadventures with a woman who’s clearly wrong for him. And that, in a nutshell, is the most glaring deficiency within Gone with the Woman; the movie never leaves any doubt as to the incompatibility of the two central figures, with the introduction of a French woman midway through (who just happens to have oodles in common with Aurvåg’s character) only cementing this feeling. It’s consequently impossible to care about the couple’s struggles to make their relationship work, as we know their future together is far from a sure thing. Director Petter Næss’ innovative visual choices notwithstanding, there’s exceedingly little here to separate the film from its cliched romcom brethren (Peter Stormare does turn in an amusing cameo as a nosy friend, however).

** out of ****