# Dealbreaker screenplay clichés **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 14, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002 "2022-03-14T02:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/221 "2022-04-08T13:08:16Z")
People get on a small general aviation plane like a Cessna. Will that aircraft reach it’s destination? Never! (_Sky King_ might be an exception.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/222 "2022-04-08T13:33:02Z")
An investigator is alone in a room with a suspect. No one knows where he’s gone or what he’s doing. He walks the suspect through all aspects of the crime, slowly building up to “You didn’t do it, did you?” The suspect started sweating long before the question. What will the outcome be? A nervous denial from the suspect and a command to get out and leave him alone? A confession? Or will the suspect grab the nearest blunt object, kill the investigator, and discretely dispose of the body? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/223 "2022-04-11T19:11:36Z")
- Character A is about to enjoy a tasty snack. - Character B offhandedly mentions something disgusting. - Character A sighs and tosses the snack away. I’m sure this happens from time to time in real life, but is it really as automatic and universal as Hollywood makes it seem? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/224 "2022-04-11T19:31:06Z")
Along those lines, a big ballyhooed wedding is always interrupted. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/225 "2022-04-12T02:47:16Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I’m sure this happens from time to time in real life, but is it really as automatic and universal as Hollywood makes it seem? Just like they eat three bites (if that) and leave the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/226 "2022-04-12T17:33:41Z")
What does “ballyhooed” mean? I kinda get a feel for it from the context but I don’t think I have ever seen that word. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/227 "2022-04-12T17:57:38Z")
Promoted, glorified, advertised with (probably unjustified) exaggeration. _Come on along and listen to_ _The lullaby of Broadway_ _The hip hooray and ballyhoo_ _The lullaby of Broadway_ ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/228 "2022-04-13T00:10:29Z")
Submitted for the decision of the assembled: > [@](#): > > Guy or gal desperately needs to get away and happens on an unlocked vehicle; getting in, he or she opens the driver-side visor\* and the keys fall into his or her hand. > > \*Once in a while the screenwriter will add an additional moment of suspense by putting the keys behind the passenger-side visor. I don’t want to fall into the error of assuming everyone is like me, but: I have NEVER put my keys in the visor, nor do I know anyone who has. Of course I’ve always lived in more-urban areas in which leaving your vehicle unlocked (which this trope requires) is unwise. Possibly things are different in small-town America…? Anyway, I find this cliché to be annoying and unrealistic. But maybe that’s because I’ve never lived in parts of the country (world?) where this keys-in-visor thing actually happens. ? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/229 "2022-04-13T01:44:59Z")
I think we covered this before but any series/movie where a bad guy is shot anywhere on their body and it’s instadeath but a main character is shot and is close to death but survives. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/230 "2022-04-13T01:55:24Z")
Whenever people have to make a phone call, they always know the number. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/231 "2022-04-13T02:06:02Z")
And always have only exactly enough payphone change to have the call disconnect at exactly the wrong moment ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/232 "2022-04-13T13:22:44Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think we covered this before but any series/movie where a bad guy is shot anywhere on their body and it’s instadeath but a main character is shot and is close to death but survives. It’s not so much true anymore, but watching older TV shows and movies, whenever a character got shot in the chest who for plot purposes could either live or die, I’d pay attention to which side of their chest they clutched as they fell to the ground. Since the heart is thought to be on the left side of the chest (actually more left-of-center), being shot on the left side usually equaled death; right side equaled survival. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/233 "2022-04-13T15:50:16Z")
Character needs to work on an important book/project/presentation/scientific breakthrough that requires total focus, so they retreat to an isolated cabin. Bad things happen. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/234 "2022-04-13T16:05:25Z")
Soooo many bad things… - The land line goes dead (if there is a land line) - There is no cell reception - The electricity goes out-- no lights or refrigeration - The Character’s car won’t start - A storm is brewing-- either rain or tornado in the spring/summer or blizzard in the winter - A dead animal shows up somewhere-- on front porch, hanging from a fence or tree, caught in a trap - Gunshots are heard in the forest ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/235 "2022-04-13T18:47:09Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Character needs to work on an important book/project/presentation/scientific breakthrough that requires total focus, so they retreat to an isolated cabin. Bad things happen. Stephen King seems to like this setup. It’s in _Secret Window, Secret Garden_ and the novella “Rat” in _If It Bleeds_ Neil Simon played it for laughs in the screenplay for _Seems Like Old Times_ ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/236 "2022-04-13T20:13:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Just like they eat three bites (if that) and leave the restaurant. Or they eat _nothing_! They don’t even get a to-go box!!! > [@Sherrerd](#): > > I don’t want to fall into the error of assuming everyone is like me, but: I have NEVER put my keys in the visor, nor do I know anyone who has. I think I have vague memories of my dad doing this. When the car was parked in our carport. And in the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/237 "2022-04-13T20:56:16Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Possibly things are different in small-town America…? The people I knew in STA that did this just left them in the ignition. If you trust leaving them in the car, why wouldn’t you leave them in the ignition? Then they are always right where they need to be. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/238 "2022-04-13T21:29:23Z")
I knew families who shared a car and would always leave the keys in one place (under the floor mat, in the glove box, and yes, above the sun visor) so the next person to take the car would always know where to look. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/239 "2022-04-14T00:30:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The people I knew in STA that did this just left them in the ignition. If you trust leaving them in the car, why wouldn’t you leave them in the ignition? Then they are always right where they need to be. The only reason for ‘visor not ignition’ would be a mistrust of random passers by who’d see the latter, but not see the former. Unless they opened the vehicle door and checked, of course. Other answers: yes, I concede it’s something that has happened. But surely only in non-urban areas, and more likely in the past than in the present. So I remain annoyed by contemporary-set stories in which this phenomenon exists in more-populated places. (And of course that’s aside from the idea that we shouldn’t spare a thought for the person whose vehicle is being ‘borrowed’—often ending up with significant damage, too. If Our Hero (or Heroine) needs it, that’s all that counts!) ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002/240 "2022-04-14T01:19:09Z")
“I’m really sorry about what happened back there.” No matter the setting, it’s always “back there.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002.md?page=13)