Fails the Bechdel test
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
1994. Directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Jack Bernstein and Tom Shadyac and Jim Carrey.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
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 2 out of 3.
The film
To be a Pet Detective, you have to understand both the criminals and animals. Ace Ventura goes even further... He behaves like a criminal animal. When a football team's mascot (a dolphin) is stolen just before the Superbowl, Ace Ventura is put on the case. Now, who would want to steal a dolphin, and why?
- Released
- 04 Feb 1994
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 37 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ace 287 lines, man
- Melissa 96 lines, woman
- Einhorn 47 lines, woman
- Woodstock 32 lines, man
- Emilio 27 lines, man
- Marino 14 lines, man
- Podacter 11 lines, man
- Adelle 10 lines
- Aguado 10 lines, man
- Mrs. Finkle 10 lines, woman
Full cast, 56 people
- Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura
- Courteney Cox as Melissa
- Sean Young as Einhorn
- Tone Loc as Emilio
- Dan Marino as Dan Marino
- Noble Willingham as Riddle
- Troy Evans as Podacter
- Raynor Scheine as Woodstock
- Udo Kier as Camp
- Frank Adonis as Vinnie
- Tiny Ron as Roc
- David Margulies as Doctor
- John Capodice as Aguado
- Judy Clayton as Martha
- Bill Zuckert as Mr. Finkle
- Alice Drummond as Mrs. Finkle
- Rebecca Ferratti as Sexy Woman
- Mark Margolis as Shickadance
- Antoni Corone as Reporter #1
- Margo Peace as Reporter #2
- Randall 'Tex' Cobb as Gruff Man
- Henry Landivar as Burnout
- Florence Mistrot as Neighbor
- Robert Ferrell as Carlson
- Will Knickerbocker as Manager
- Gary Munch as Director
- Terry Miller as Assistant Director
- John Archie as Reporter #3
- Cristina Karman as Reporter #4
- Tom Wahl as Reporter #5
- Herbert Goldstein as Crazy Guy
- Chaz Mena as Another Cop
- Manuel L. García as Dolphin Trainer
- Don Shula as Miami Dolphin
- Scott Mitchell as Miami Dolphin
- Peter Stoyanovich as Miami Dolphin
- Dwight Stephenson as Miami Dolphin
- Jeff Uhlenhake as Miami Dolphin
- Jeff Dellenbach as Miami Dolphin
- Marco Coleman as Miami Dolphin
- Kim Bokamper as Miami Dolphin
- Jeff Cross as Miami Dolphin
- Chris Barnes as Thrasher Band "Cannibal Corpse"
- Alex Webster as Thrasher Band "Cannibal Corpse"
- Paul Mazurkiewicz, Jr. as Thrasher Band "Cannibal Corpse"
- Jack Owen as Thrasher Band "Cannibal Corpse"
- Robert Barrett as Thrasher Band "Cannibal Corpse"
- Bubba Baker as Toothless Giant (uncredited)
- Ray Buffer as Doctor (uncredited)
- Vince Cecere as Stadium Vendor (uncredited)
- Robert Deacon as Redneck #1 (uncredited)
- Greg Finley as Mascot (voice) (uncredited)
- Bill Pearlman as Miami Dolphin #54 (uncredited)
- Dominic Jack Pizzo, Sr. as Football Player (uncredited)
- Jimmy Star as Stadium Vendor (uncredited)
- Laird Stuart as Superbowl Referee (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 133
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 11 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 16 |
| 19 to 21 | 6 | 4 |
| 22 to 24 | 12 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 20 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 36 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 39 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 9 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 2 | 6 |
| 43 to 45 | 9 | 12 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 8 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 7 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 19 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 4 |
| 64 to 66 | 19 | 15 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 7 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 18 |
| 73 to 75 | 8 | 14 |
| 76 to 78 | 8 | 8 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 5 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 5 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 5 |
| 91 to 93 | 6 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 16 | 47 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 4 | 4 |
| 103 to 105 | 5 | 12 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 16 |
| 109 to 111 | 3 | 4 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 13 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 4 | 6 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 8 |
| 127 to 129 | 5 | 6 |
| 130 to 132 | 12 | 33 |
| 133 to 133 | 0 | 5 |
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, 26 are women's.
167 lines from women, 468 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 30 men in the cast. 7 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 29 of 699.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (2,650), men 76% (8,498). Women have 26% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
Two women
1
Two men
26
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom Shadyac (man)
- Written by
- Jack Bernstein (man), Jim Carrey (man), Tom Shadyac (man)
- Story by
- Jack Bernstein (man)
- Produced by
- James G. Robinson (man)
- Shot by
- Julio Macat (man)
- Edited by
- Don Zimmerman (man)
- Music by
- Ira Newborn (man)
- Production design by
- William A. Elliott (man)
- Costumes by
- Bobbie Read (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Jo Slater (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 16 men, 23 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 8 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 9 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 11 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Courteney Cox 29, Sean Young 34
Men
Tone Loc 27, Jim Carrey 32, Dan Marino 32, Troy Evans 45, Udo Kier 49, Raynor Scheine 52, Frank Adonis 58, Noble Willingham 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 7.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $107 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 699 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
