Like Gregory Peck, twice Oscar-winning documentary maker Barbara Kopple is a leader in her field. Her 1977 movie Harlan County USA won the award that year for Best Feature Documentary, and she scored again four years later with American Dream, a film about the growing disillusionment amongst the country's struggling workforce. But she probably remains better known for the revealing film she made about one of cinema's most private and enigmatic figures.

Called Wild Man Blues, it was intended to be a behind-the-scenes documentary about Woody Allen's concert tour with his jazz band, but Kopple's persistence paid off, resulting in a film which showed more of Allen ­ and his relationship with Soon-Yi ­ than the comedian had ever exposed before.

Alternating between projects that deal with sensitive issues (for example, the Aids-awareness raiser Friends For Life) and provocative celebrity profiles (for example, Fallen Champ: The Untold Story Of Mike Tyson), Kopple has shown a remarkable versatility within the genre. And as one might expect, A Conversation With Gregory Peck throws new light on a familiar figure ­ a Hollywood icon who's the polar opposite of camera-shy Allen.

It begins, ironically, in the theatre, where Peck is preparing to give a one-man performance in Buffalo, New York. Before he takes the stage, a showreel triumphantly shows clips from the films that made the 84-year-old actor a legend in his homeland.

From here, the film goes on to show how Peck handles his stardom, and draws a startling portrait of a man who deals with the most extraordinary situations with down-to-earth calm. We see him having dinner in Paris with French president Jacques Chirac, being honoured by Bill Clinton, and sharing some downtime with old friend Lauren Bacall.

But as well as Peck the actor, we also see a glimpse of Peck the father and Peck the husband. What emerges is not a standard biography, but a striking testament to the qualities that make this man so different from the rest of us and yet so fundamentally the same.

Damon Wise