"Lebowski has lots of zippy writing...but True Grit...does not."
Did we watch the same movie? True Grit had some of the wittiest, zippiest dialogue I've seen in a long time. The writing was incredibly conspicuous, in a good way.
I disagree with your notion that conspicuous writing makes for a bad movie, just as I would argue that conspicuous editing, or score, or cinematography, or acting can lead to an excellent movie.
Did we watch the same movie? True Grit had some of the wittiest, zippiest dialogue I've seen in a long time. The writing was incredibly conspicuous, in a good way.
I disagree with your notion that conspicuous writing makes for a bad movie, just as I would argue that conspicuous editing, or score, or cinematography, or acting can lead to an excellent movie.