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Passes the Bechdel test

A Walk to Remember

2002. Directed by Adam Shankman, written by Nicholas Sparks and Karen Janszen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    15 women characters. 4 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 3 scenes out of 226.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

Poster for A Walk to Remember

The film

In Beaufort, North Carolina, a prank on a student goes wrong and puts him in the hospital. Landon, a popular student with no plans for the future, is held responsible and forced to join after-school, community service activities, which include starring as the lead in the play. Participating in these activities is Jamie Sullivan, the reverend's daughter who has great ambitions and nothing in common with Landon. When Landon decides he wants to take his activities seriously, he asks Jamie for help and begins to spend most of his time with her. He starts to like her, which he did not expect to happen. They develop a relationship, much to the chagrin of Landon's old popular friends and Jamie's strict, reverend father. But when a heart-breaking secret becomes known that puts their relationship to the test, it is then that Landon and Jamie realize the true meaning of love and fate.

Released
25 Jan 2002
Genres
Drama, Romance
Rated
PG
IMDb
7.3 / 10
Metascore
35 / 100
Awards
4 wins & 2 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Landon 410 lines, man
  2. Jamie 249 lines, woman
  3. Rev. Sullivan 65 lines, man
  4. Cynthia 54 lines, woman
  5. Mr. Kelly 33 lines, man
  6. Eric 28 lines, man
  7. Belinda 23 lines, woman
  8. Clay 14 lines, man
  9. Adult Landon 13 lines, man
  10. Dr. Carter 12 lines, man
Full cast, 42 people
  • Mandy Moore as Jamie Sullivan
  • Shane West as Landon Carter
  • Peter Coyote as Reverend Sullivan
  • Daryl Hannah as Cynthia Carter
  • Lauren German as Belinda
  • Clayne Crawford as Dean
  • Paz de la Huerta as Tracie
  • Matt Lutz as Clay Gephardt
  • Al Thompson as Eric
  • Jonathan Parks Jordan as Walker
  • David Andrews as Mr. Kelly
  • David Lee Smith as Dr. Carter
  • Xavier Hernandez as Luis
  • Marisa Miller as Ms. Garber
  • Erik Smith as Eddie Zimmerhoff
  • Al Butler as Security Guard
  • Seth Howard as Maitre'd
  • Julia Ann West as Church Lady
  • Frances E. Davis as Housekeeper
  • Dean Mumford as Policeman
  • Anne Fletcher as School Play Dancer
  • Mervyn Warren as Pianist
  • Charles E. Bailey as Dean's Dad
  • Sheila Brothers as Restaurant Patron
  • Kelly Cole Childers as Do-Gooder
  • Jenny Gulley as High School Student
  • Adam Shankman as Medical Assistant
  • Ryan Sweeney as High School Student
  • Chip Thomas as Gangly Boy
  • Robert C. Treveiler as Mr. Worth Carter
  • Paula Jones as Sally
  • Robin Clark as Choir Singer
  • Vivian Cherry as Choir Singer
  • Arlene Martell Martin as Choir Singer
  • Nikki Gregoreff as Choir Singer
  • Elaine Caswell as Choir Singer
  • Diva Gray as Choir Singer
  • Cassidy Ladden as Choir singer
  • Janie Barnett as Choir Singer
  • Gordon Grody as Choir Singer
  • Kevin Osborne as Choir singer
  • Jason Paige as Choir Singer

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 226

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 505
6 to 1005
11 to 15212
16 to 20311
21 to 251010
26 to 3004
31 to 3504
36 to 40316
41 to 4511
46 to 5053
51 to 55829
56 to 601723
61 to 652630
66 to 70713
71 to 752829
76 to 80712
81 to 8599
86 to 90312
91 to 95310
96 to 1001533
101 to 1051112
106 to 1101214
111 to 115022
116 to 120611
121 to 125021
126 to 130813
131 to 1351718
136 to 14059
141 to 1451311
146 to 1501928
151 to 1551820
156 to 16009
161 to 165313
166 to 17043
171 to 17576
176 to 1801014
181 to 185716
186 to 19012
191 to 19503
196 to 20038
201 to 2052015
206 to 2101210
211 to 21544
216 to 220318
221 to 225320
226 to 22602

The evidence

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

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JAMIE: Hey. Hi. Your lights. Any chance you could... turn them off -- BELINDA: God give you this road? JAMIE: No -- BELINDA: Then we'll be keeping the lights on.
JAMIE: Thank you. Thank you so very much. BELINDA: I can't see a friggin' thing.
BELINDA: I do. JAMIE: Hi.
JAMIE: Isabel? ISABEL: Hi. JAMIE: Who's been working with you?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.

333 lines from women, 593 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 16 men in the cast. 4 women and 7 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 14 of 931. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 38% of the words (2,537), men 62% (4,164). Women have 36% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit E: 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 F: behind the camera

3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Adam Shankman (man)
Written by
Karen Janszen (woman)
From the novel by
Nicholas Sparks (man)
Produced by
Denise Di Novi (woman), Hunt Lowry (man)
Shot by
Julio Macat (man)
Edited by
Emma E. Hickox (woman)
Music by
Mervyn Warren (man)
Production design by
Doug Hall (man)
Costumes by
Doug Hall (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Writing

    1 women, 1 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    1 women, 0 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 25 on average. Men: 30 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Mandy Moore 17, Paz de la Huerta 17, Lauren German 23, Daryl Hannah 41

Men

Shane West 23, Clayne Crawford 23, Matt Lutz 23, Al Thompson 23, Peter Coyote 60

Exhibit H: the money

It made 4.0 times what it cost.

Budget
$11.8 million
Box office
$47.5 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 226 scenes and 931 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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