Piece by Piece (2024)    Focus/Documentary-Comedy    RT: 93 minutes    Rated PG (language, some suggestive material, thematic elements)    Director: Morgan Neville    Screenplay: Morgan Neville, Jason Zeldes, Aaron Wickenden and Oscar Vazquez    Music: Michael Andrews    Release date: October 11, 2024 (US)    Cast: Pharrell Williams, Morgan Neville, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, Missy Elliott, Nigo, Teddy Riley, N.O.R.E..

Rating: ***

 Pharrell Williams always does it his way. The music he makes and produces has a sound all its own. When it came time to tell his life story, he didn’t want to do a traditional biopic with some name actor playing him. Instead, he made a Lego movie that plays more like a musical documentary than a standard movie. For the most part, it works.

 Directed by Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom), Piece by Piece has Lego-Williams relating his life story to Lego-Neville. The filmmaker prompts the rapper/musician/producer to imagine himself as a sea creature swimming through the ocean towards Roman god of the sea Neptune. It takes us to Virginia Beach where Pharrell’s story begins. He grew up in the Atlantis projects with his parents who encouraged him to reach for his dreams. He had a special fondness for music. When he listened to it, he saw colors swirling around. He thought all black kids did.

 Pharrell takes us through his life from his association with Teddy Riley’s Future Records to his success with the hit song “Happy” to now. We get to see his beginnings as a member of The Neptunes, a group he formed with school friends Chad Hugo (who he describes as a “musical savant”) and skateboarder Shay Haley. He would go onto produce songs for the likes of Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake and Pusha T. We hear from these folks as well as Missy Elliott (another childhood friend), Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg.

 Piece by Piece follows a familiar rise-and-fall-and-rise again trajectory. Pharrell finds some early success with his original beats, but gets sidetracked when records execs unwisely advise him to go for a more conventional sound. It also shows us a personal side of its subject in depicting his close relationship with his grandmother who often took him to church and meeting the girl who would eventually become his wife after he deals with some commitment issues.

 I wasn’t sure if I’d go to see Piece by Piece. I’m not a big fan of Pharrell (although I do love “Happy). The only Lego movie I’ve liked is the first one. I didn’t get to see it last weekend because I was working on getting my website back up. To be honest, I wasn’t all that broken up about skipping it. I had a change of heart during the week. I decided to check it out after all. I’m kind of glad I did. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s still pretty good.

 I’ve never seen a documentary presented this way. It’s different. Surprisingly, it works. Visually, the movie held my attention. It’s a colorful and lively piece with some pretty good music. The problem is in what it doesn’t show. I would have liked to see more of Pharrell’s creative process. We see a little bit of it, but he talks about it more than he shows it. It’s a missed opportunity. Animation is an ideal way to show art and creativity.

 I guess my biggest question about Piece by Piece is who it’s for. It’s PG for a couple of uses of s***. It touches on the Black Lives Matter movement, but depicts none of the violence. None of this is especially objectionable. I think it’s safe to bring the kids, but would they be interested? It’s a documentary with a lot of talking. Childless adults will likely skip it because it’s a Lego movie. I really don’t know what audience Neville is going for here. Given its tepid opening weekend take of just $3.8M, it would appear nobody is all that interested. It was a risky project. I’d expect nothing less from Pharrell.

 So what do I think of Piece by Piece? It’s pretty good. It’s not exactly boring. However, it doesn’t run out of steam as it gets closer to the end. It does have some genuinely touching moments like the world’s reaction to “Happy” and all the love pouring from the videos on social media. Pharrell’s relationship with his grandmother is sweet; I wish he had gone into it more. It has some flaws, but Piece by Piece is nonetheless an interesting experiment in form. It’s too bad it falls short in the content department.