"On the nose"...???

Basically, good dialogue stems from people NOT saying exactly what's on their minds. "On the nose" dialogue is where a character says exactly what's on his or her mind, with no subtlety, no nuance, no evasiveness, etc.

Sometimes people do this in real life, but it's not always a good thing in a movie, because it diffuses all the dramatic tension in the scene.

Dramatic tension in dialogue doesn't come from what characters say, it comes from what they don't say.

Example:

Regular: "Meatloaf again? That figures."

On the nose: "I feel so frustrated with you because nothing in our life ever changes and lately you've been ignoring me and I feel you don't love me anymore and I'm afraid you may be cheating on me and it really makes me feel empty inside and very self-conscious."

If you want an example of the worst, most on-the-nose dialogue (and, worst all-around writing) in television history, just watch any episode of "7th Heaven" on the WB.

Has anyone noticed that Commander in Chief has some of the worst on the nose dialogue.

First man: How are you feeling?

President: Sad.

I've only finished on script and even I know that's bad.

That's not necessarily bad dialogue because it's "on the nose," per se.

It's bad dialogue because it's just bad dialogue.

On the nose dialog

will upset any average reader/viewer because it treats you like an absolute moron, spelling everything out, telling you things you all ready know, etc.

Read a few posted pages and you're sure to come across many examples where "on the nose" dialog is identified. If you are dilligent and do a more thorough search you may come across some threads or posts where the problem once identified has been corrected.