“Americanish” (American; 2021; romantic comedy; run time 1 hour, 31 minutes; directed by Iman K. Zawahry, written by Zawahry and Aizzah Fatima; N/R but includes language, sexual situations, adult themes; in select theaters May 23, 2021) is billed as the first Muslim rom-com directed by an American Muslim woman (and it’s written by Muslim women), but little beyond the cultural angle is novel. It’s a paint-by-numbers movie straight out of the 2000s, built on rom-com tropes, predictable plot resolutions and lukewarm humor. It’s a rom-com for fans of the genre only. It introduces culturally significant themes (including what it’s like to be an immigrant in the U.S. torn between old traditions from the homeland and a changing American landscape) but doesn’t delve deep enough into them to interfere with the upbeat tone. It does, however, tug at the heart strings, as a good rom-com should, and all will be well that ends well. And it features charming central performances that make the characters worth rooting for as they search for love and happiness.

The story revolves around three young women of Pakistani descent living in New York. Salena Qureshi is Maryam, who wants to go to Harvard to study medicine and is trying to adhere to Muslim traditions. Co-writer Fatima is Sam, Maryam’s older sister. She is the more “Americanized” and claims not to be interested in finding a husband (despite her mother pushing her to do so) but instead is focusing on advancing her public relations career, though she keeps hitting the glass ceiling in a White male-dominated firm. Shenaz Treasury is Ameera, their cousin. She has just arrived in the U.S. with the stated goal of finding a Pakistani-American doctor to marry. The U.S. is, Ameera reminds everyone, the land of dreams (a sentiment she learned from watching the 1988 Eddie Murphy rom-com “Coming to America”). As happens in these movies, each of the women will meet men, and then a romantic tug-of-war will ensue and, of course, complications will arise, and all will learn lessons. Maryam pines for Shahid (Kapil Talwalkar), a handsome young aspiring doctor who becomes available at just the right time. But Maryam is left to make tough decisions and question her traditional Muslim values when one of them gets an interview with Harvard and the other doesn’t. Sam meets an NYC police officer (Mohammed Amer as Zane) on the streets and eventually succumbs to his not taking “no” for an answer (don’t try his approach in real life). Sam also is eager to move out of her mother’s house and is torn between doing what is best for her and her career and not alienating Maryam, who also still lives at home. Ameera meets her doctor (Ajay Naidu as Jawad), but Gabriel (Godfrey), a hunky clerk at the local bodega, is crushing on her, their complications being that Ameera is engaged to Jawad, and Gabriel is Black, though also Muslim. Which one will she choose?

All three women will find happiness – however they choose to define it — because this is a rom-com, and that’s how they work. The three leads are endearing as strong women who are willing to buck tradition but also respect it. Purva Bedi as Simi, the single mother of Sam and Maryam, also is solid as a woman who believes so strongly in Muslim traditions that she threatens to cut off her relationships with her daughters if they do not adhere to her wishes (her character is not unlike the Pakistani mother in the 2017 rom-com-dram “The Big Sick”). She’ll eventually come around, though. Godfrey, Amer and Talwalkar are suitably handsome and romance-worthy (though Talwalkar’s Shahid isn’t quite what he seemed when his relationship with Maryam turns rocky). Other men in the movie don’t fare so well, ranging from an executive (David Rasche as Jim) who condescends to the ambitious Sam because she is a woman; Sam’s co-worker, Ed (Stephen O’Reilly), a doofus who gets the promotion Sam sought presumably because he is a White male; and a racist political candidate (George Wendt as Douglas Smarts) for whom Sam manages a Twitter account. The three Pakistani-American women also are subjected to other instances of racism, but in moments that come and go quickly. Race and religion provide the backdrop but don’t drive the story; the emphasis is on the romance and comedy. “Americanish” does just well enough in both categories to satisfy, if not wow, rom-com enthusiasts.

My score: 55 out 100