Tag Archives: Despicable Me 2

Piece By Piece

Hey, gang, here’s a way to spice up a tired storytelling format: Go Lego!

The new film Piece By Piece has those familiar elements seen time after time in documentary biopics: archival footage plus soundbites from associates/family/observers, tied together with narration and/or onscreen text. But this story of musical polymath Pharrell Williams has that big difference. It is told… via Legos!

The movie is colorful, musical, kinetic and full of cool images that would not be seen had the story been told in the traditional way.

Does the Lego innovation/gimmick work? Yes, to an extent. But after a while, it gets a bit tedious. And it is a bit dishonest. Do the projects in Virginia Beach where Pharrell grew up look like they’re presented in this film? Is his high school where he met many of his first musical chums similar to its cartoon representation here? 

Among the people who contribute soundbites to Piece By Piece are Pharrell’s parents. After about their third appearance onscreen—as Legos—I wanted to see what his folks really look like, not just their cartoon images. Also, I wonder if all the musical folk who contributed comments are pleased with their Lego depictions? 

Interestingly, when Pharrell’s story gets to 2013, one of the three gigantic hit songs he was involved in that year gets just a brief mention. Blurred Lines, performed with Robin Thicke and rapper T.I., has since been cancelled in popular culture because of its lyrical content. To have ignored the song, a monster hit, would’ve left fans wondering WTF. But acknowledgement of the tune, set between more screen time for the two others, is appropriate.

Pharrell’s part in Daft Punk’s Get Lucky was his first 2013 mega hit. Then, in summer, as Blurred Lines was ruling the charts, his song Happy was heard as the closing theme of the film Despicable Me 2. Toward the end of the year, the song began ascending the charts and in early 2014 the song and its video were making people everywhere… happy! Positive responses from the song’s fans get good play in this new movie.

For those who know Pharrell Williams mainly for his time as a judge on The Voice or from his song Happy, Piece By Piece delivers a good opportunity to learn more about the man. His love of music from childhood when he was a Stevie Wonder fan. His involvement with many of music’s giants including Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z. His family life including not just his parents but also his wife and his grandmother. 

The Lego innovation/gimmick offers parents a reason to bring their kids along to the theater. Even if they don’t care for the story, the Lego images and the creative animation should keep them amused. Or even, as the song title says, happy.

Piece By Piece runs just over 90 minutes. Rated PG.

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The Way, Way Back

You may not recall how uncomfortable it feels to be 14 years old. But I do. Not old enough to drive, attracted to girls but uncomfortable around them, wanting to be active but having few opportunities to do things.

The Way, Way Back is the story of Duncan (Liam James) and his summer in a Massachusetts shore town, spent with his mom Pam (Toni Collette) and her recent boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell). Trent’s daughter Steph (Zoe Levin) is along for the ride, too. She’s an older teen who snubs Duncan and helps herself to her dad’s beers.

Trent is a total dick to Duncan who instantly resents Trent and his relationship with his mom. Truly, he’s more despicable in this movie than in Despicable Me 2 (which, by the way, is already the #3 movie for all of 2013).

While the grownups drink and toke and cavort, Duncan finds a friend in Owen (Sam Rockwell), the manager of a water park. Owen offers Duncan a job and the kid finds a place where he has a purpose. Slightly older neighbor girl Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) becomes a friend. And, eventually, so does her nerdy little brother Peter (River Alexander).

Parallel to Duncan’s discomfort is that of his mom Pam. She’s not quite the party person that Trent and his shore friends are. She tries to be just as carefree, but she can’t quite pull it off.

The Way, Way Back has a timeless feel. Trent’s car is an old Buick station wagon with a rear-facing back seat (which gives the movie its title) where Duncan sits. The shore town has a mid-20th century look. Duncan first meets Owen at a Pac-Man game in a pizza joint. The water park appears older, more like Raging Rivers (Grafton, Illinois) than Hurricane Harbor (Eureka, Missouri). We don’t see characters grabbing laptops, iPads or smartphones—or even watching TV.

The original script is by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash who worked on the Oscar-winning screenplay for 2011’s best movie, The Descendants. Faxon and Rash also are co-directors of The Way, Way Back.

Special acting honors go to Sam Rockwell, whose character has warmth and charm but is also a hilarious goofball, and Toni Collette, who is brilliant as the insecure girlfriend who has to balance her relationships with Trent and Duncan.

The Way, Way Back is a perfect summertime movie. It’s a drama; it’s a comedy. It has characters, locations and situations many of us can relate to. And, after a spring and summer of loud and explosive movies, The Way, Way Back is a breath of fresh ocean air.

 

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