10 Movie Cliches That Need To Stop

2. Third Time Lucky If a character is trying to do something against the odds, you can bet your bottom dollar that they won't get it right the first time, and probably not the second one either; it'll be on attempt number three that the door will be kicked open, the car will start, and the protagonist will succeed. It's such a predictable notion that it's a genuine pleasure when filmmakers actually have a character complete their tough action on the second or fourth effort, just because it's so unexpected. It's not among the most infuriating cinematic clichés perhaps, but it is dreadfully boring, yet one that has somehow still managed to persist throughout many good and bad films.