Dull Surprise: Difference between revisions

* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], whose most notable roles are [[Terminator|an emotionless robot]], [[Commando (film)|an emotionless (ex)soldier]] and [[Conan the Barbarian|an emotionless warrior]]. Really, Schwarzenegger is the best when he can play a killing machine (either literally or figuratively). Honestly, you do not want to see him try to act emotions. It can alternate between bad acting (''[[Jingle All the Way]]''), [[Chewing the Scenery|weird facial expressions]] (''[[Kindergarten Cop]]'', ''[[Total Recall]]''), or [[Ham and Cheese|overacting for the sake of it]] (''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]''). His best performance ironically came in a ''parody'' film: ''[[Last Action Hero]]''. He actually shows some emotional depth in the film.

* ''[[The Room]]'', with Tommy Wiseau. It is not difficult to imagine every line of his in the script, except questions, ending in a period, given his flat, mostly-unaffected delivery. He sounds bored even when his character is supposed to be outraged.

** This is best demonstrated in the sequence right before his last scene, when he trashes his apartment [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLs-PkfUS2g while wearing the same blank expression he'd been using the entire movie.]

* Selma Blair maintains this expression at all times in the film version of ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]'', possibly justified by her staying at a mental health and very likely medicated the entire time. She gets out-acted by a fish man, a giant red demon, an insane Russian necromancer, a wind-up Nazi and a German man ''made of smoke''. The fact that {{spoiler|she's pregnant}} would explain why she's more lively in the second movie.

* In ''[[12 Monkeys]]'', this trope is well [[Justified Trope]] because [[Bruce Willis]]' character is either heavily sedated or mentally traumatized for most of the movie. In addition, this provides a perfect counterweight to [[Brad Pitt]]'s [[Chewing the Scenery|maniacal bombast]].

* [[Steven Seagal]]. In Italy, and possibly, elsewhere, TV advertised a series of Steven Seagal films with this line (translated):

* [[Zooey Deschanel]]. For example, in ''[[Tin Man (TV series)|Tin Man]]'' and in ''[[The Happening]]'' (with one reviewer describing her performance in the latter film as being that of "a perpetually surprised lemur"). ''The Happening'' even gives her the line "I don't like to show my emotions," which many suspect was a desperate attempt to make her lack of any performance work. This culminated in her role as the title character of ''[[500 Days of Summer|(500) Days of Summer]]'', where her emotionally mute acting style worked great as an emotionally dead character to explain why the main character, obviously hoping she'd be a [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]], had such a terrible relationship with her.

* William Hurt in the 1998 ''[[Lost in Space]]'' movie. The robot displayed more emotion than him. Hurt's dull performance could be summed up in just one line:

** And when {{spoiler|his family is killed by the planet debris}}, he's so dull the music has to do the acting for him.

*** Funny thing is, he's played other roles where he actually emotes, like [[The Incredible Hulk (film)|General Ross]] and [[Robin Hood (2010 film)|William Marshall]], so he has the skill... Maybe he also knew the film would suck but just went and acted [[Ham and Cheese|the opposite direction of]] [[Gary Oldman]].

** He simply inherited it from his on-screen father, Robert Forster, who apparently decided that Arthur Petrelli was too powerful to have any emotion on his face or in his tone when delivering his dialogue. He doesn't even seem bored, just... monotone.

* Often turns up as part of the [[Stylistic Suck]] that forms ''[[Garth Marenghi's Darkplace]]''. Liz in particular seems susceptible to it:

* Kim Kardashian playing an accused murderer's girlfriend on ''[[CSI New York|CSI:NY]]''. Borderline [[Narm]].

** [[WTH? Casting Agency|Borderline?]]

* A bizarre case is the usually-good Joanne Froggatt in ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''. Her character Kate spends most of her time with her face screwed up due to her constant scowling, crying and whining, but when she's faced with an actual crisis such as a threat from her brother's murderer or the dead body of one of her comrades, all she can muster is a blank stare.

* It was a point of some parody (including a ''[[Mad TV]]'' sketch) during the popularity of ''[[The X-Files]]'' that both David Duchovny and, to a lesser extent, Gillian Anderson would frequently react to mysterious or horrific events with deadpan near-monotone exclamations (since their acting was [[True Companions|just]] [[Undying Loyalty|fine]] when the other's character was in danger, though, one could assume that they've [[Seen It All|become a bit jaded]]). There was even a joke about it in the first movie:

'''Mulder:''' You've never seen me panic. When I panic, I make this face. [Remains expressionless.] }}

* Almost the whole cast of ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]''.

* The Camden twins, Sam and David, in the later seasons of ''[[7th Heaven]]'', were a particularly awful example of this trope. Everything they said came out in an almost robotic monotone.

* [[Lampshaded]] on ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' in regards to Foreman's character:

* Ellie Spicer, the abducted little girl in the ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' episode "The Longest Night", seemed to unintentionally smirk through ''a lot'' of scenes in the episode, regardless of the situation.

* The Olsen twins, sharing the role of Michelle on ''[[Full House]]'', were at times painful when they got old enough to have actual lines. In all fairness, they ''were'' very young at the time, but it went on to dog their later work as well, and was a major contributing factor in the complete failure of their one and only theatrical starring feature, ''New York Minute''<ref> (they were billed below Steve Guttenberg and Kirstie Alley in 1995's ''It Takes Two'')</ref>, which only grossed $14 million dollars during its whole box office run. Both twins, now adults, have turned to other careers.

* [[The Danza|Jason London]] as the titular character in the Hallmark miniseries of [[Classical Mythology|Jason and the Argonauts]]. From being told that his uncle killed his father to nearly drowning, he has the same nauseated look.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Scrubs]]''. Somebody knocks into Jordan, who has just got botox. [[Justified Trope|It is justified.]] Her face was literally paralyzed like that, [[Truth in Television|like all people when they first get botox.]]

* The same thing as the ''[[Scrubs]]'' example happened in an episode of ''[[Psych]]'' with a rich widow being told something shocking. Her reply is "I'm shocked" with a blank face. When the others look surprised (and suspicious), she explains that she has had botox done and can't show emotion.

* The main cast of ''[[Stargate SG-1|Stargate SG 1]]'' criticized ''themselves'' for the ending to "Thor's Chariot," where they only seemed mildly intrigued by the sight of a ship the size of a city appearing and eliminating an entire Goa'uld army in seconds. In behind-the-scenes interviews, they explained that none of them appreciated just how impressive (or big) the ship would look in the finished episode, so they did not think to put more awe or fear into their expressions.

* The limited engine of ''[[Deus Ex]]'', combined with acting that ranged from ridiculously over-the-top (and borderline racist) to the flattest line readings imaginable lead to [[Dull Surprise]] in more than a few situations. The creators of the game actually stated that this was done intentionally, to have the player produce the emotions instead of them forced on him.

** JC Denton's deadpan delivery is a constant source of (intentional) hilarity, producing some immortal lines in the process:

'''Denton:''' '''[[Narm Charm|A bomb.]]''' }}

* Several of the bad endings in the original ''[[School Days]]'' game end with Makoto staring blankly at whatever gruesome scene has just happened before him.