The Lego Pharrell Movie has a Lego Black Lives Matter scene

Some thoughts on that piece by piece and the dangers of committing to the bit.
Photo: Focus functions

At the beginning of piece by pieceThe new animated documentary about Pharrell Williams, the music artist and mega-producer, explains why the film is set in a visual world made of Lego. Well, sort of. A minifigure version of Pharrell doing a sit-down interview with a minifigure version of director Morgan Neville says something along the lines of how he's been thinking lately about what it means to make something new out of what already exists – Than if the universe were a Lego set and we all worked with the same basic elements and color tones. Then He suggests to Neville that the entire movie they're making should be made out of Lego bricks because it could have “limitless colors,” which is pretty much the opposite of his first point, but whatever. Which becomes obvious after a few minutes piece by piece is that the film is presented as it is not because there are deep thematic connections between its subject's life and the plastic construction set, but because the Lego is an attempt to bring something interesting into what is, even for the pre-chewed standards of authorized celebrity documents, textureless pablum.

We're in a heyday of films about famous musicians, produced by the same famous musicians (or their labels). However, calling them “films” doesn't do justice to the fact that so many of them are actually glorified album extras that have been elevated to the level of the primary offering. They're made for an audience of fans who can appreciate them for what they are – not stand-alone projects, but the latest work from someone whose career they're already confident in. They are less portraits and more acts of branding, offering carefully measured glimpses into vulnerability amid myth-making. Completing this special moment at one end is Ezra Edelman's “Prince” documentary, which by all accounts is a profound attempt to explore the genius and darkness of its legendary subject as a real person, and for that reason may never see theaters to push back from Prince's estate. On the other hand is piece by piecewhich wordlessly shows Lego Pharrell reconciling with a Lego version of his Neptunes partner Chad Hugo, despite the former duo not speaking to each other and in the midst of a legal battle over their once shared name.

It's enough to make one say, “Hey, maybe not everyone needs to have a movie made about them,” even though Pharrell actually gets two. Michel Gondry is currently finishing a musical inspired by the man's Virginia Beach childhood that promises to be even more whimsical, if (hopefully) less calculated. What's so crazy about that? piece by piece This isn't because his subject's life is lacking in accomplishments – Pharrell has undoubtedly helped shape the sonic landscape of the 21st century – but because he's so bad at storytelling. The film trudges through his life as if it were ticking off sections of a Wikipedia entry, but there's no sense that certain episodes are more significant than others. There are interludes that one wishes the film would delve into in more detail, such as the section where Pharrell, Hugo, Timbaland and Missy Elliott are all teenagers together, and others, such as Pharrell's collaborations with various companies, which could have been skipped. In his narrative, which is supported by a series of prominent additional interviews, things just happen. There are no ups and downs, only ups, and it is clear that the filmmakers were not expected or inclined to touch on any subject that might cause discomfort. If the film finally has to come up with something resembling a conflict, the best it can do is imply that Pharrell was hypnotized by a group of evil men in suits into paying too much attention to the focus tests.

What's left is the Lego of it all, and that certainly lends itself to a touch of novelty and fantasy, but also utter ridiculousness. It's a little jarring to see minifigure Gwen Stefani's abs, but the Lego recreation of the video for Wreckx-n-Effect's “Rump Shaker” (for which Pharrell wrote the Teddy Riley verse) is how to do it sees, delightfully, someone's reaction to hearing the work of Neptune for the first time, visualized by his explosion into pieces. While Neville conducted most of his interviews via Zoom or audio, the film animates them all as if they were in person, right down to today's documentary clichés, like the camera turning on and off or a clip that begins with that someone is ready to film before they start talking. There is no doubt that Lego is fun to be in piece by piece It's visually more dynamic than a traditional take-and-archive approach, although it doesn't take long for the gimmick to become a limitation. When Pharrell has his first encounter with Snoop Dogg, the meeting takes place in a haze of “PG spray” from a can, a cute joke that makes you wonder if the intent of this disinfectant gesture is that it's somehow expected of children will make them watch this solipsistic endeavor, or because keeping it clean is a Lego requirement. This is, for all its blandness, a film about a 51-year-old man, and when it comes to his work on Kendrick Lamar's Alright and depicting the Black Lives Matter protests carried out by minifigures, that's enough to cause temporary delirium . These are the dangers of committing to a little – even if for piece by pieceThat's really all the film has.