Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2009

I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT is a glossy comedy-drama exploring the complications created when two beautiful closeted lesbians from traditional Muslim families meet through mutual friends and fall in love. Both are betrothed to men they're expected to marry in order to follow the path they've inherited from their cultures, and we watch as they try to reconcile their attraction to each other with their parents' expectations. Lisa Ray is good as the wealthy and rebellious Tala, whose family is from Palestine but now lives in Jordan—but Leyla, played by Sheetal Sheth, is the most interesting and well-developed character in the film. Soft-spoken and independent, Leyla is an aspiring writer whose family is from India, though they now live in London. After an eye-opening weekend getaway with Tala, she shocks her middle-class parents by announcing she's gay and that she intends to forge her own destiny. Leyla's journey of self-discovery is heartfelt and compelling—which makes it all the more unfortunate that her story is nearly swamped by the film's long list of deficiencies: the acting in supporting roles is wildly uneven, with some actors doing subtle, nuanced work while others seem to be making a zany sitcom; the story screeches to a halt during several stilted, right-minded political "arguments" that require the characters to dutifully take turns reciting their convictions about the Arab-Israeli conflict; a recurring gag involving the stolid housekeeper spitting in peoples' drinks grows increasingly tedious; Leyla's new girlfriend who suddenly appears from nowhere to make Tala jealous conveniently vanishes again when Tala finally comes around—with no details about this other relationship (Layla's first with another "out" lesbian!) provided whatsoever. With all these annoying distractions, it's mainly to Sheetal Sheth's credit that the film still somehow remains watchable and actually has moments that are genuinely funny, sweet and affecting.