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Pouran Derakhshandeh is a trailblazer. As a pioneering woman in the Iranian film industry, her work has tackled some of the most sensitive issues of our times, ranging from drug addiction and pedophilia to disease and sectarian conflict. She takes a decidedly internationalist approach to her films, often working with foreign actors and producers. In her English language drama “Love Without Frontiers,” she finds thematic links between the Iran-Iraq War and gangland conflict in Los Angeles. It’s a bold statement made all the more impressive by her decision to work with an almost entirely American cast. Now, after more than two decades of virtual obscurity in the West, it’s finally going to be released in the U.S. for the first time.

On paper, this all sounds like cause for lovers of Iranian film to celebrate. The only problem is that “Love Without Frontiers” is a ridiculous, hackneyed...