Sound design and Production design

So this afternoon I'm watching Barton Fink for my sound design class. I get why this was on the list for that class, but what I'm really noticing - besides the fact that's it's 4x3 instead of 16x9, probably because it's set in 1941, because certainly in the 90s people were shooting widescreen - is the production design. The sets, the props, the costumes are all perfect. Once you've got that environment it practically shoots itself. At least from a visual standpoint. I'm finding the story a bit slow, to be honest.