I think a good director can, to some extent, craft his/her way out of a bad script. That is, though conventional wisdom says if a movie is going to be a success the quality has got to be on the page, and I don't disagree, bottom line -- it's the director, or in this case, directors, that make the difference, determines whether a scene is captivating or just sits there no matter the overall quality of the screenwriting.
Really, you almost never get a feel for the script's quality moment to moment. You have to experience the entire movie for that. In the here and now, however, the director rules. Even non-professional actors can shine if the director is good. Bad actors in a movie with a bad screenplay can still hold our attention, moment to moment, if the director knows what they're doing.
There's nothing, no hint, about the plot of 'Inside Llewyn Davis' that suggests you could even stay awake through the entire runtime. But in these trailers, second to second, you see the quality of the Coen brothers' direction. The inflections of voice, the subtle changes around the actor's eyes, posture -- that stuff that's often missing in most movies. The last thing we see in a Coen brothers' flick is actors hitting their marks and jawing dialogue. Their movies breathe, they have a pulse.
Can't wait for this. Looking forward to every moment of it.
