'Piece by Piece' TIFF review: Pharrell Williams gets the Lego treatment in snazzy documentary

Courtesy of Focus Features/TIFF

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On paper, a documentary about one of the world’s most influential producers, singers, and writers told through Lego might seem like a gamble. However, in the hands of director Morgan Neville, the long-in-the-works Pharrell Williams passion project, “Piece by Piece,” is far from a cynical cash grab. It takes Williams’ rags-to-riches story and infuses it with childlike wonder and sensibility. While the Lego format may not fully capture the depth of how Williams became a global icon, potentially omitting some key details and hardships, it’s hard not to smile at the Lego versions of the artist and various talking heads, including Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, and Jay-Z, throughout the film.

In doing so, it bucks the recent trend of mediocre musician documentaries. The subject, of course, is Williams, the singer and producer behind so many earworms it’s hard to keep track. You probably can’t go anywhere in the world without someone knowing the lyrics to his “Despicable Me” anthem “Happy.” Working alongside Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”), the film is packaged in a bright and colorful Lego world that blends seamlessly with the singer/songwriter’s personality and musical inclinations. Pharrell’s music spans genres from rap and hip-hop to hard rock and disco, making it akin to a Lego variety in its own right.

The film offers a kinetic, propulsive glimpse into how Pharrell became the sensation he is today. It documents his rise from a small Virginia Beach community (where he attended school with future stars Missy Elliott and Timbaland) to creating a broad series of hits. Even if you’re not a fan, chances are he contributed to some of your favorite tunes. Heading into the documentary, I knew little about Williams’ contributions to music and left astounded by his overall impact. “Piece by Piece” is certainly a puff piece that doesn’t delve into the nitty-gritty of the hurdles and challenges Pharrell faced (taking a SparkNotes approach to those memories), but the playfulness with the Lego blocks allows it to coast past these shortcomings.

The visual imagination on display is delightful, and the filmmakers use it to create vivid playgrounds that give “Piece by Piece” its beating heart. It also helps that Pharrell was able to recruit a roster of massive superstars, including Kendrick Lamar, R&B mega-producer Teddy Riley, and Gwen Stefani, who corroborate how Pharrell’s instinctual choices led to numerous hits on the airwaves. A standout scene features Snoop Dogg, in a cloud of smoke humorously referred to in the film as “PG spray,” reacting to the hook for his first #1 single “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and how it recontextualized the way people viewed him.

These personal touches, combined with vibrant animation, make “Piece by Piece” more than just a “Lego movie.” Although it might not reach the emotional depth of some of Neville’s other works (nobody can compete with Mister Rogers), it remains an energetic documentary made with precision, care, and attention to detail. Like most of Pharrell’s musical contributions, it has an infectious flavor that’s hard to resist.

Grade: B+

PIECE BY PIECE played at the Toronto Film Festival. Focus Features will release it in theaters on Friday, October 11th.