Brick by brick, they build an impressive documentary.
A LEGO Brickumentary
Grade: A-
Directors: Kief Davidson (The Devil’s Miner), Daniel Junge (Being Evel)
Writers: David Coombe (Keep on Keepin’ On), Kief Davidson (The Devil’s Miner)
Cast: Jason Bateman, Voice (Horrible Bosses 2), Jamie Berard
Rating: G
by John DeSando
“LEGO toys build anything. Especially pride.” LEGO
A LEGO Brickumentary is a memorable documentary about one of the world’s most successful businesses devoted to only one toy, but perhaps the most creative toy ever devised. Although the doc could be considered an extended ad for the little building blocks, and in a way it is whether the filmmakers mean it or not, the film is a colorful—in all senses of the word—history. Its founders and artists are more creative and enthusiastic, I suspect, than even lucky Google employees.
Or maybe even eccentric: the founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen, kept building new factories after at least three in a row burned down, the first one the original LEGO factory in Denmark. That joyful determination pervades the enterprise, where artists and scientists collaborate (Lego is a model of creativity sharing) like brainy kids given their first Gilbert chemistry sets.
If you don't work for LEGO, it doesn’t mean you aren’t invested in the product: Brickartist Nathan Sawaya in Manhattan claims to spend more than $100,000 a year on the bricks. His full-size human and animal LEGO artworks show his investment and enthusiasm as well as mesmerizing subjects.
A LEGO Brickumentary is worth seeing if only for the grand creations such as a full-sized plane and a village so beautifully appointed you’ll want to shrink just to live there. If I sound rhapsodic, then so be it, for I am good with following the instructions when my grandson Toby and I put a themed model together. I leave digging out old bricks to create something unique to Toby.
If you loved The Lego Movie, this doc will show you the models used in that loveable film, and if you wonder what AFOLS is (Adult Fans of LEGO), or if you’re curious how LEGOs are used in therapy, then sit back and relax with this most unusual Brickumentary.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
