In the same vein as Better Man, where a straight-shooting biopic is not the right option, Pharrell Williams turns to LEGO for a unique angle on an easy-going story. The Gwen Steffani, Snoop Dogg and Despicable Me collaborator set out charting his life on film with the freedom that comes with animation. Piece by Piece is a chance for Williams to bag some free LEGO, at the very least. A smart man. A savvy business move. But also, a refreshing take on the genre, which has grown stale in its post-Bohemian Rhapsody malaise. Bet it CGI monkey with Robbie Williams or the use of a popular toy with Piece by Piece, the shift is welcome. Director Morgan Neville uses those seasoned documentary skills and pairs it with a film which needs a straight-shooting set of facts with space for visual gags. A perfect blend is found.
What Piece by Piece suffers with, then, is the subject. Williams is an outstanding popular musician. His work in the studio, perhaps overlooked, is catchy and repetitive. Yet his origins prove to be far greater than the sum of his lyrical parts or album pieces. Even then Williams is not the subject here, LEGO is. What can be done with it as a form of expression, as a new tool for filmmakers, is the real focus here, as it has been for projects like The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Films which have felt the pressure of the brand weight and succumbed to the demands of featuring the product as a lead item. For Piece by Piece, it leaves a few minor details unfilled. Mouth animations which do not quite match, a fixation on music as a constant needle drop rather than something to explore or develop, even with those visuals it feels secondary to LEGO.
For a film made of LEGO, though, there is very little need for it to be made of plastic. It is not as though a documentary format can take advantage of the brand, and even it cannot escape the talking heads style. Not so much a narrative as it is a collection of memories who knew and still know Williams. But the sparse backdrop, and the relatively tame visual gags are reliant not on LEGO but on the writing, which feels cruddy at best. Humanising Williams is easy, but Piece by Piece tends to find itself unfocused on the man and more on the product at its bricky centre. Nothing is gained from having this made of LEGO apart from the marketing trick of a water cooler moment. But you can have that conversation without seeing the movie.
Where Piece by Piece gets interesting is in its open discussions of how Pharrell grew as an artist. Those moments where his faith confirmed the path he was on. Williams found himself in the hot seat. How long an artist can be there is up to them. A fascinating story once you get into it, though the LEGO additions feel more like a marketing ploy and never suggest an all-too-genuine creativity. Still, the understanding of Williams as a producer, told by the likes of Jay-Z and Chad Hugo, is a welcome and often enjoyable experience. He is one of the most well-known music producers and while his continued work in pop music is inescapable, this is more a highlight reel in animated form. He has produced radio hit after radio hit, but their place in music history, beyond slick production and nostalgic material, is questionable. A sharp mind, for sure, but popular does not mean permanent.
