Skip to content
Piece by Piece is a documentary about musician Pharrell Williams, told through the use of LEGO figures, because that’s how he feels the pieces in his life is coming together, and it’s also the purest form you can be… yeah, I didn’t really understand that.
Still, after a rather neat LEGOfied Universal Pictures logo, he tells us how he lived in Virginia Beach near the housing projects, listened to music like Stevie Wonder, and had Synesthesia, a sensory medical condition where you can see colours as you listen to music, eventually getting signed up by Future Records after producer Teddy Riley moves his studio, just a stone’s throw from Pharrell’s home.
Portrayed by LEGO figures, partially resembling their subjects, there’s chat from his parents, plus producer Timbaland, Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and N.O.R.E., whatever that is.
As a documentary, Piece By Piece is a bit flat, but once you get into it, it’s engaging enough, and it was good to learn that Mr Williams was also a TV addict as a kid, just like me!
It also takes us through tougher times, such as after his initial success, he was then struggling for a hit, before the eventual career resurgence with Get Lucky (with Daft Punk) and Happy, which went viral after loads of people made their own versions of the video. I even remember the then-BBC Breakfast presenters making a cringey video, too, but theirs came around six months after the single was released, so they were embarrassingly really late to the party.
And, since they feel the need to bring politics into it, there’s mention of the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020 – where the boneheaded participants burned down black-owned businesses! Along with the death of George Floyd, and you do wonder if he’d simply got out of the car when instructed to by police, rather than resisting arrest, things might have been different, but then he was off his bonce on fentanyl, with his eyes bulging out all over the place. He also punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach, so don’t forget that.
Finally, I was reminded of a number of top tunes brought to my ears by Pharrell Williams, from Nelly’s Hot in Herre, Kelis’ Milkshake and who can pass up Snoop Dogg’s Drop It Like It’s Hot?
Piece By Piece is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list. However, you can buy the soundtrack in MP3 form.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 93 minutes
Release date: November 8th 2024
Studio: Focus Features
Amazon Studios / Warner Bros
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Director: Morgan Neville
Producers: Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Mimi Valdés, Joshua R Wexler, Pharrell Williams
Writers :Morgan Neville, Jason Zeldes, Aaron Wickenden, Oscar Vazquez
Music: Michael Andrews
Voice cast as themselves:
Pharrell Williams
Morgan Neville
Kendrick Lamar
Gwen Stefani
Timbaland
Snoop Dogg
Justin Timberlake
ItzKiff
Jay-Z
N.O.R.E.
Daft Punk
Busta Rhymes
Pusha T
Taaes2008
Aaron Wickenden
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.