Motivated by a three-dimensional LDA band structure calculation for trans-polyacetylene (PA) we construct an effective two-dimensional model for a film of conjugated polymers. In real materials a non-perfect structural order is found. It has its origin in the finite conjugation length of single chain segments, impurities and crystalline defects. We model these effects through a fluctuating contribution to the interchain hopping amplitude. Using a supersymmetric path integral formalism we obtain the averaged one-particle Green function giving the electronic density of states (DOS) and furthermore the current correlation function determining the optical absorption coefficient and DC conductivity. As a consequence of the interchain coupling we find a broad shoulder at the band edge in the DOS and the optical absorption. The main effect of disorder is seen in a broadening of the interband transition peak and an increasing intraband absorption. The anisotropy in the absorption coefficient parallel and perpendicular to the chain direction allows us to fix the interchain coupling strength; the line shape contains information about the effective disorder strength.