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Fails the Bechdel test

A Perfect World

1993. Directed by Clint Eastwood, written by John Lee Hancock.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    6 women characters. 6 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    Women do talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

Poster for A Perfect World

The film

After escaping from a Huntsville prison, convict Robert "Butch" Haynes (Kevin Costner) and his partner, Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka), kidnap a young boy named Phillip Perry (T.J. Lowther), and flee across Texas. As they travel together, Butch and Phillip discover common bonds and suffer the abuses of the outside "Perfect World". In pursuit is Texas Ranger "Red" Garnett (Clint Eastwood) and criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern).

Released
24 Nov 1993
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
71 / 100
Awards
2 wins & 1 nomination total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Butch 267 lines, man
  2. Red 177 lines, man
  3. Phillip 100 lines, man
  4. Sally 95 lines, woman
  5. Adler 65 lines, man
  6. Jerry 47 lines, man
  7. Suttle 20 lines, man
  8. Hendricks 17 lines, man
  9. Lottie 17 lines, woman
  10. Saunders 16 lines, man
Full cast, 33 people
  • Kevin Costner as Robert 'Butch' Haynes
  • Clint Eastwood as Chief Red Garnett
  • Laura Dern as Sally Gerber
  • T.J. Lowther as Phillip 'Buzz' Perry
  • Bradley Whitford as Bobby Lee
  • Keith Szarabajka as Terry Pugh
  • Leo Burmester as Tom Adler
  • Paul Hewitt as Dick Suttle
  • Ray McKinnon as Bradley
  • Jennifer Griffin as Gladys Perry
  • Leslie Flowers as Naomi Perry
  • Belinda Flowers as Ruth Perry
  • Darryl Cox as Mr. Hughes
  • Jay Whiteaker as Billy Reeves
  • Taylor Suzanna McBride as Tinkerbell
  • Christopher Reagan Ammons as Dancing Skeleton
  • Mark Voges as Larry Billings
  • Vernon Grote as Prison Guard
  • James Jeter as Oldtimer
  • Ed Geldart as Fred Cummings
  • Bruce McGill as Paul Saunders
  • Nik Hagler as General Store Manager
  • Gary Moody as Local Sheriff
  • Mary Alice as Lottie
  • Wayne Dehart as Mack
  • Linda Hart as Eileen
  • Connie Cooper as Bob's Wife
  • John Hussey as Governor's Aide
  • Gabriel Folse as Officer Terrance
  • Brandon Smith as Officer Jones
  • Elizabeth Ruscio as Paula
  • Dennis Letts as Governor
  • Kevin Jamal Woods as Cleveland

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 245

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 648
7 to 1207
13 to 18623
19 to 24013
25 to 3016
31 to 36323
37 to 421038
43 to 48244
49 to 54020
55 to 60016
61 to 661628
67 to 72019
73 to 78219
79 to 84649
85 to 90011
91 to 9648
97 to 10200
103 to 10833
109 to 1141444
115 to 12025
121 to 12609
127 to 13212
133 to 13816
139 to 144339
145 to 150116
151 to 15658
157 to 162033
163 to 1681123
169 to 174238
175 to 1802130
181 to 186010
187 to 192619
193 to 198727
199 to 204413
205 to 210419
211 to 216220
217 to 222339
223 to 228230
229 to 23405
235 to 24028
241 to 245625

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 16 are women's.

154 lines from women, 803 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 20 men in the cast. 6 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 8 of 1,032. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 60 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (1,489), men 83% (7,490). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Clint Eastwood (man)
Written by
John Lee Hancock (man), Clint Eastwood (man)
Produced by
David Valdes (man), Mark Johnson (man)
Shot by
Jack N. Green (man)
Edited by
Ron Spang (man), Joel Cox (man)
Music by
Lennie Niehaus (man)
Production design by
Henry Bumstead (man)
Costumes by
Erica Edell Phillips (woman)
Cast by
Phyllis Huffman (woman), Liz Keigley (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Camera

    0 women, 7 men, 4 not listed

  • Other crew

    0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed

  • Sound

    0 women, 8 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 2 men, 4 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 26 on average. Men: 38 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Laura Dern 26

Men

T.J. Lowther 7, Bradley Whitford 34, Ray McKinnon 36, Kevin Costner 38, Keith Szarabajka 40, Leo Burmester 49, Clint Eastwood 63

Exhibit G: the money

It made 4.5 times what it cost.

Budget
$30 million
Box office
$135 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 245 scenes and 1,032 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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