You have to be a skillful director to pay attention to these kind of details.
That may be the understatement of the decade, Sonny.
One of my favorite "little moments" is when Michael returns from Havana and asks Rocco and Neri to leave the room so he can talk to Tom alone. Rocco goes right out. Neri starts out, stops, turns around, snags a cigar from a box on the table, then leaves. I guess FFC wanted to show Neri taking a liberty--an indication of his growing ascendency over Rocco. It's backed up in the penultimate boathouse scene when they're discussing Roth. Rocco's standing silently, but Neri leans back in his chair, joining in the discussion, as if he's perfectly comfortable as one of the Ruling Powers.
