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Actually, I'd say he IS subtle and believable.
His character gets a bit boring at times, yet keeps the viewer interested as he conveys a feeling of something slumbering beneath the surface.
He's a bit sleazy and over-ambitious, yet at the same time sympathetic and appears morally upright.
He obviously likes the outlook of becoming a chancellor, but it's hard to tell whether he exploits the situation for his own gain, or just kinda glad at the opportunity while still caring about the crisis.
When he proposes his idea, he kinda becomes suggestive and lowers his voice, and it's unclear whether he genuinely wants to help but realizes the implications of his ambitions, or really just wants power and plays the former role.
When he's about to win, it's unclear whether he's desperately trying to hide his betraying euphoria, or is merely temporarily taken in by his success only to be reminded by Padme what really matters.
Excellent playing by McDiarmid, although, in retrospect, Palpatine should've been a much better actor than that - he shouldn't have given away a VIBE of his ulterior motives.
But maybe the character was growing and gaining skills, too... whatever.
There are a few scenes in ROTS where he, after his transformation, acts on par with his ROTJ performance and gives off equally memorably lines - but the rest of it is obviously him having fun.
