Vernon usually underplayed his roles, lending his portrayals a natural charm. The characterisation was fascinating and the acting underplayed to perfection. Battle victories and heroism were promoted for morale purposes, while losses and defeats were underplayed. According to Ian MacDonald, the backing vocals were "exquisite", but "sadly underplayed in the mix". Richard Corliss from Time also wrote Just Our Luck "scores as hip, underplayed farce". Meltzer felt Howarth underplayed Todd; Todd did not have to rant to incite fear. Adams also criticizes Tadashi's death, calling it "underplayed and unseen". I mean, look at that beautifully underplayed closing tableau. According to Sify's Sonia Chopra, Neil's "underplayed acting style complements the character's sketch perfectly". Will and Roni agree that the Viking element was underplayed. On the defensive, radicals underplayed the intent of the convention as pro-nullification.