‘ builds a new entry into the documentary/drama genre – The Daily Eastern News

Documentary/drama films from famous artists have been no stranger to cinemas in recent years, with the most notable being “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), “Rocketman” (2019) and “Elvis” (2022).

The latest addition to the genre is the story of Pharrell Williams in Piece by Piece (2024), a story that begins with Williams formulating his career in Virginia Beach, where he grew up, before he met Chad Hugo made friends and made music.

The pair eventually became the record producers known as The Neptunes, thanks to the opportunity presented to them by Future Records, which moved into William’s neighborhood.

Through Future Records, the duo was able to produce hundreds, if not thousands, of beats for popular artists at the time, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk, Pusha-T, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake and many more.

After some internal and external struggles ranging from corporate manipulation to the Black Lives Matter movement, Williams learned to be himself regardless of others’ opinions, resulting in the unique style of “Piece by Piece.”

However, the film is not your typical documentary/drama as the entire piece was recreated using Lego.

Yes, you read that correctly. The whole The piece will be recreated using Lego animation and stop motion in the same style as The Lego Movie franchise to create a unique storytelling medium never before seen in the genre.

The decision to use Lego to tell Williams’ story also allows his synesthesia, a cognitive state that allows people to experience multiple senses simultaneously, to manifest in a material way understandable to the audience.

This is shown in the film as each beat is performed to the artists using glowing Lego bricks that are combined in unique ways that reflect Williams’ synesthesia; He sees colors in his head when he listens to music or makes music.

The biggest plus point of the film for me is the use of Lego animation as I love animation as a storytelling medium, but the other standout plus point for me was the humor.

Lego is primarily marketed as a children’s toy, so integrating it into the real world with adult themes produces humorous results.

For example, during the creation of Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Williams, Hugo and Snoop Dogg achieved great heights together. To keep things family-friendly, the characters spray a can labeled “PG Spray” instead of smoking.

This subtle humor gives the film a light touch that made me smile often, but that wasn’t the only emotion I felt while watching it.

During an interview segment with Williams, he begins to cry for a moment as he thinks about the family and friends who have always stood by him during difficult times. As I watched this scene, I teared up a little because I too am grateful for those who stood by me even in difficult times.

I thought I was silly for bursting into tears watching a Lego movie, and the rest of the scene showed the interviewer and crew bursting into tears as well. Even the audience in my theater became emotional, you could hear multiple sniffles and quiet sobs throughout.

Although I’m a fan of Piece by Piece, it falls into what I like to call the documentary trope.

In the documentary trope, the main character in a documentary is on the rise and all the events are in their historically correct order before a roadblock causes them to fail, leading to a comeback where the events are not historically correct or clear .

“Piece by Piece” is undone by Williams becoming the company’s pawn for a time, causing many of his friends and colleagues to abandon him. During the Comeback Arc, most events are historically accurate, with only one being particularly vague.

As Williams talks about his struggle to compose a song for a new film, minions appear on the screen to signal to the audience that he is referencing Despicable Me (2010). However, the song he is having trouble creating is “Happy” and not the song titled “Despicable Me” that he wrote for the first film. The lack of clarification as to which film it is causes confusion among the audience.

Speaking of songs, the film is chock-full of previous hits and original songs that Williams created for the film. All of the songs fit perfectly into the scenes they appear in and make for a great soundtrack album that I listened to on the way home from the theater.

While I have a few complaints about the film falling victim to the documentary, Piece by Piece is a great film for all audiences with creative animation, music, storytelling, and advice from Williams that you take one day at a time can.

Rating: 4/5

Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].