{"id":15009,"date":"2021-12-21T16:25:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T16:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/?p=15009"},"modified":"2021-12-21T17:26:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T17:26:53","slug":"2021-a-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/2021-a-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2021: A Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_margin=”0px|||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/wdw-dec-21-2021.jpg” title_text=”wdw-dec-21-2021″ align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.13.1″ custom_margin=”0px|||” custom_padding=”0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ header_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robert McKee’s 2021 “Works\/Doesn’t Work” Review<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ min_height=”172px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Robert breaks down what worked (and didn’t work)\u00a0<\/i>in some of the stories he’s seen throughout 2021\u00a0<\/i>on the stage, page and screen.<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Reality had a lousy year, but fiction, fortunately, rode to the rescue. I had many favorites in various categories, but I would like to preface the list with a genuflection of gratitude to the acting profession. Year after year, the international community of actors elevate their art ever higher. Without great acting, writing for screen and stage would not be worth the struggle.<\/p>\n

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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb title=”Crime Stories” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”N||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#7cda24″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”Two Crosscut Storylines” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

The Crime genre thrives thanks to the modern audience\u2019s willingness to set moral judgments aside and empathize with underdogs. I enjoyed two distinct types: the\u00a0<\/span>‘Getting Away With It’<\/i>\u00a0series and the\u00a0<\/span>‘Catching Them<\/i>‘<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>series.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Getting Away With It’<\/i>\u00a0stories take a criminal\u2019s point of view. For me, the top three were GODFATHER OF HARLEM<\/strong>, NARCOS: MEXICO<\/strong> and ZERO ZERO ZERO<\/strong>. The performances by Forest Whitaker and Vincent D\u2019Onofrio in the American series were superb, but it was Andrea Riseborough who made the Italian series absolutely compelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

MARE OF EASTTOWN<\/strong> and UNFORGOTTEN<\/strong> tell ‘Catching Them’<\/em> stories from a cop\u2019s point of view. Kate Winslet\u2019s series climaxed on a brilliant reveal, but the fascinating forensics of the ITV series held me episode by episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hideous crimes, such as school shootings, often leave us asking \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/em> THE SINNER<\/strong> uses this fascination with motivation to move in an off-beat direction. We not only see the crime committed but witness the almost immediate arrest of the killer. Where does a crime story go from there? The cop (Bill Pullman) pursues a deeper truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Sherlock Holmes seems like a 19th century antique, but British mystery writers know ways to have your Holmes and believe it too. They create teams of detectives whose combined talents add up to one master detective. My wife and I enjoyed GRANTCHESTER<\/strong>, BROADCHURCH<\/strong> and LINE OF DUTY<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb title=”Magical Realism” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”N||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#7cda24″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”Four Hidden Stories” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″]<\/p>\n

Three excellent series called on Magical Realism to deepen their tellings: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD<\/strong> (fantasy with a social purpose), SQUID GAME<\/strong> (the master metaphor for modern life) and THE GOOD FIGHT<\/strong> (the hope that justice still exists\u2026somewhere).<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb title=”Thrillers” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”N||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#7cda24″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”The Moral Question” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″]<\/p>\n

Although a plague of mediocrity has infected Hollywood for years now, these three thrillers worked to good effect: WOMAN IN THE WINDOW<\/strong>, NO TIME TO DIE<\/strong> and UNHINGED<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb title=”Comedy and Satire” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”N||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#7cda24″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”Supporting Cast Design” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″]<\/p>\n

I enjoy the satire in the SUCCESSION<\/strong> series, but for belly laughs, Larry David, the greatest farce writer since Moli\u00e8re, gave us the eleventh season of\u00a0CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM<\/strong>. Then my wife and I discovered the British edition of WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?<\/strong> Between the UK and US, the 30 seasons of this show\u2019s hysterical nonsense has inspired over 500 lunatic episodes.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb title=”On Stage” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”M||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#E02B20″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”Characterization by Contrast” _builder_version=”4.13.1″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″]<\/p>\n

We saw two lackluster plays: Clyde\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> and Morning Sun<\/strong><\/em>. Neither was worth the crawl through Manhattan traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb title=”On Page” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”N||divi||400″ icon_color=”#ffffff” image_icon_background_color=”#7cda24″ icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”16px” admin_label=”Supporting Cast Design” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ header_font=”|700|||||||” header_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” image_icon_custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” border_radii_image=”on|100%|100%|100%|100%” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”#7cda24″ global_colors_info=”{}” image_icon_background_color__sticky_enabled=”#f6a704″ image_icon_background_color__sticky=”#f6a704″]<\/p>\n

My late-night novel reading was enriched by three prize-winning tales of lone survival: The Narrow Road to the Deep North<\/strong><\/em> by Richard Flanagan, In the Distance<\/strong><\/em> by Herman Diaz, and War Trash<\/strong><\/em> by Ha Jin.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ min_height=”172px” custom_margin=”29px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

My favorite for the year was MAID<\/strong>. Inspired by the memoirs of Stephanie Land, the series tells the story of a single mother who escapes an abusive husband, survives by cleaning the homes of hoarders, finds her way through the labyrinth of social services and gets herself into college. I loved it for its honest writing and acting, but most of all, for taking me into a fascinating world I would otherwise never know.<\/span><\/p>\n

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