“Piece by Piece” (2024)
“Piece by Piece” is a wildly inventive spin on the biopic documentary with its Lego animation. While it mostly works and is a beautiful testament to the power of creativity, it falls a little short on the humanity most live-action documentaries provide.
The film tells the life story of music producer and artist Pharrell Williams through his own words and the words of his family and closest collaborators.
With “Piece by Piece,” director Morgan Neville continues his string of captivating entertainment industry documentaries, which include 2013’s “Twenty Feet from Stardom” (about legendary backup singers from the 1960s and ’70s) and 2018’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (about Mr. Rogers).
For me, the best part was the throwbacks to all of the hits Pharrell had a hand in that were staples from my childhood, including Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” No Doubt’s “Rock Steady” album and his own projects with The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.
Seeing Lego versions of some of these music videos and the stories behind the making of these hits was also quite entertaining.
I can deeply appreciate why Pharrell requested a Lego documentary instead of a live-action one, and as much as they can do with CGI and animation techniques for the mini-figs to exhibit emotion, it is still not enough to make this feel like a truly honest glimpse of the life of an artist.
To achieve a PG rating, they also bleeped some lyrics and made some funny edits to the parts with Snoop Dogg. While I found some of this charming or humorous as I was watching “Piece by Piece,” on further reflection, I think it contributed to this film feeling very sanitized.
I attended a screening of the film last night that featured a live Q&A with Pharrell. He insisted that he let Neville and his crew take the reins on the final output, but I honestly am having a hard time believing it, especially after seeing how meticulous Pharrell can be.
Aside from tonal misfires, though, “Piece by Piece” is still a fun and uplifting way to spend a couple of hours at the cinema. I loved the creative license they took with some of the animation, especially the more fantastical elements that bring the audience into his King Neptune-loving childhood and the visual representation of how Pharrell sees different colors when he’s listening to and creating music.
If “Piece by Piece” sounds like a movie you’d enjoy, I recommend checking it out in theaters to get the full communal experience and see the dazzling visuals on the big screen.