Plot: The life of Pharrell Williams, as told through the lens of Lego animation.

Review: Let’s get one thing out of the way first – Morgan Neville’s Piece by Piece would be a conventional music documentary if not for the central conceit: the whole movie is animated in the style of The Lego Movie. It’s an interesting choice which gives Pharrell’s story a glossy twist and likely opens the film up to a much younger audience that would have initially seen a more conventional hip-hop documentary. Indeed, with its PG rating, this is a family-friendly take on the life of perhaps the most influential music producer of his time, although it can’t help but feel like total hagiography at times, with it free of even a whiff of controversy throughout.

To be sure, Pharrell’s rise and fall (and rise again) is free from too much rock star excess,...