If you’re sick of formulaic musical biopics — which is to say, almost all musical biopics — Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece” is a breath of fresh air. Pharrell Williams, an artist with more #1 hits than the U.S.
S. Enterprise second-in-command in a fist fight, has a story to tell about his childhood, his career, and his creative process, and it’s not your typical rags to riches tale. (Also he’s a “Star Trek” fan so if no one else gets that joke, at least he will.
) “Piece by Piece” is an animated documentary, which is not a brand-new concept but it hasn’t been done to death either. Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for the music documentary “20 Feet from Stardom,” sat Pharrell Williams and his friends, family and artistic collaborators down for extended interviews, and then animated their story using the same style as the various “LEGO Movies” everyone loves so much. It’s a charming approach, even if it’s also a huge commercial for toys.
But to hear Pharrell tell it, the LEGO aesthetic connects with him on a personal level. From his perspective there is nothing new in this universe so everything we create is made out of pre-existing pieces. His music stems from his life experiences, big and small, and when he compiles a beat together it takes physical form, a collection of LEGO pieces that pulsate with rhythm.
When it’s not trying to be profound about LEGO, “Piece by Piece” is being funny about it. Anecdotes about working at McDonalds.