Making a romantic comedy by touching on the exposed nerve of Arab-Western cultural collision is certainly a new approach. Ruba Nadda's portrayal of an immigrant family living in Canada is a light-hearted film typical of the genre but still manages to engage with the multicultural debate.

Sabah (Khanjian) is a 40-year-old spinster charged with the care of her sick mother (Setta Keshishian). Opening with Sabah 's birthday, the family is presented as traditional and happy, made up mostly of women and firmly ruled by her brother Majid (Seymour). Unsatisfied with life, Sabah begins taking illicit trips to a swimming pool where she meets Stephen (Doyle). A tentative courtship follows in which she attempts to remain with Stephen while protecting her family from their relationship.

Forbidden love as plot device has enjoyed a recent resurgence with the depiction of the cross-cultural relationship; providing necessary edge to tired tales of star-crossed lovers. But this itself is starting to become a little over used, and Sabah is refreshing in its wish to engage with the issues whilst not being consumed by them. It is made surprising by its complete lack of surprises in following the girl-meets-boy formula.

Nadda deliberately omits references to terrorism, racism and honour killings. Stephen is not despised as the infidel, rather the relationship is disapproved of as not the done thing. It's an approach that will bemuse the post-9/11 audience - and for good reason. As the director herself puts it: “I was ignoring it [terrorism] to make a point. I really wanted to show a different side to the culture: a more humane side”.

Arabic is distinguished from Islamic with the nuance of culture separated from the seriousness of religion. Something achieved by Nadda's subtle direction. Cous-cous is juxtaposed with KFC; the assumption that Arab and Muslim is synonymous is given a counter-point with Stephen's refusal to describe himself as Chris tian. This is a different perspective, and one that is embarrassingly obvious in hindsight.

“We're so used to seeing the angry male Arab on screen,” Nadda says, “we're not used to seeing the sexualised liberal woman.” To this end, Nadda is aided by Khanjian's skilful portrayal of an anxious character torn between duty and desire, contrasted by Setta Keshishian providing affable comedy with her performance as Sabah 's mother. All this will go little way to placating those who hate the sickly sweetness of romantic comedy. But the escapism here at least has a point; this is not a film that is meant to be hard.

In her attempt to shake off religion Nadda goes slightly too far. Stephen's ignorance of Sabah 's beliefs is too unbelievable for someone who is seen reading the paper. (“Why do you always wear that headscarf?” he says before ordering her a glass of wine and suggesting she try the BLT.) But Nadda's overall aim should be well received; a film that shows the fun side of Arab culture and the lighter side of life whilst not dumbing-down the relevant issues.