Matt Damon makes an early bid for Oscar glory in Promised Land, a gentle yet compelling drama about a small farming town facing an economic and industrial meltdown. While the financial difficulties faced by its characters will resonate with a lot of people, it feels a little out of date and we never get a sense of why this particular story is being told now.

Riddled with more polished, well-executed and genuinely laugh-out-loud comedic moments than many of its contemporary predecessors, as a showcase for veteran funnymen Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill, The Watch is ideal. However, by trying to force square emotional pegs in round comic holes, The Watch suffers under the pressure to prove its legitimacy by incorporating a “depth” which is both unnecessary and poorly-executed.

The perfect selection to get the 2012 Glasgow Film Festival off to a strong start, Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister is a warm hearted treat. The story of three unhappy individuals attempting to rediscover themselves in a remote island bungalow, the film takes the potential makings of melodrama and uses them to craft something unexpectedly enjoyable. Fuelled by consistently excellent dialogue and anchored by a thoroughly likeable leading trio, it should leave even the cynical feeling warm and fuzzy inside.