There are so many reality talent shows that it's not always easy to get enthusiastic about documentaries about singing. Stephen Walker's Young@Heart starts off pretty predictably, as it focuses on maverick conductor Bob Cilman trying to teach a senior citizen choir in Northampton, Massachusetts, such quirky numbers as Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia, The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go and James Brown's I Feel Good. Even though the ensemble has toured the world, Walker derives some gentle amusement from watching the geriatric amateurs struggling to stay in tune or stumbling over complicated lines. But he then decides to concentrate on a handful of compelling characters and the fondly deristory tone gives way to a deeply moving analysis of coping with age and loss.

Although Walker's narration and his insistence on melodramatising almost every incident occasionally become irksome, it's impossible not to be affected by the ardour of 92-year-old Eileen Hall, the geniality of Joe Benoit and the courage of Bob Salvini and Fred Knittle, as they defy debilitating illness to reunite on a duet of Coldplay's Fix You. But it's the way the choristers react to a week of tragedy that makes the film memorable, with the outdoor performance of Bob Dylan's Forever Young for the inmates of Hampshire Jail being matched for sheer poignancy by Fred's heroic solo and a rousing rendition of Allen Toussaint's Yes We Can at the climactic concert.

According to the opening caption of Afro-Saxons, black women devote more time to their hair than anyone else in Britain. So there should be a built-in audience for Rachel Wang and Mark Currie's documentary, which follows various hopefuls as they prepare for the annual Black Beauty & Hair Awards. But few concessions are made to those not au fait with this highly competitive, but rather insular world. Thai couple George and Apple Kosit are clearly captivating characters and the action perks up during their sojourn in Paris and their avant-garde photo shoot. But the paucity of non-tonsorial backstory deprives Brummie mummy's boy Michael Wilson's rivalry with colleague Angela Foster, the dandyish Alan Henry's mentoring of newcomers Wayne and Cyndia, and braidist Angela Plummer's showy friendships with Felix Dexter and Oona King of any laic human interest. There's some droll cattiness during the award ceremony itself, But, otherwise, this is strictly a salon speciality.

The week's other British releases are scarcely better. Sacha Bennett's Tu£sday is yet another wise-cracking bank heist caper. It has the novelty of three blags coinciding at Alex MacQueen's London sub-branch, as Linal Haft attempts something macho after being cuckolded, cashiers Kate Magowan and Kirsty Mitchell seek revenge for being denied promotion and Philip Glenister's gang of 'Cowboys' plot to steal a priceless emerald. Naturally, everything goes wrong and the suspects are questioned in a blizzard of flashbacks by cops Kevin R. McNally and Dylan Brown. With Magowan's relationship with Glenister's getaway driver, John Simm, clouding the issue, this all slots into place neatly enough before the inevitable double cross. But the storyline lacks wit and momentum, while the performances are phoned in (which will be particularly disappointing to fans of the over-rated Life on Mars).

At least Emily Corcoran makes an effort in the self-scripted long-lost sibling romp, Sisterhood. She even squeezes in a couple of amusing set-pieces as her New Zealand sheep farmer and snooty half-sister Isabelle Defaut strive to claw back the property that conman father Nicholas Ball duped out of their late mothers in a vacuum cleaner scam. But slapstick gags with a cocktail olive and two pantomime dog suits can only raise so many laughs and there's more to wince at than smile as the thirtysomethings careen around London after DNA samples and Ball sets out to seduce geriatric lottery winner Maria Charles.