Fails the Bechdel test
Action Jackson
1988. Directed by Craig R. Baxley, written by Robert Reneau.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 8 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Law-school educated Detroit Police Detective Sergeant Jericho Jackson, known locally as "Action Jackson," was a celebrated lieutenant on the force, but he was demoted nearly two years ago for almost tearing the arm off of sexually violent sociopath Sean Dellaplane, whose father is Peter Anthony Dellaplane, a major car manufacturer. The fallout over the case collapsed Jackson's marriage, and put him at odds with the public. Jackson still has conflicts with his commanding officer, Captain Earl Armbruster. And Dellaplane himself has taken an intense dislike to Jackson, with whom he's been feuding. Jackson begins investigating Dellapane's professional exploits, uncovering the string of murdered trade union members connected to Dellaplane's company. Jackson discovers that Dellaplane is secretly maneuvering his way into a "behind the throne" seat of power, and has been using a group of assassins called the Invisible Men to kill uncooperative union officials. Dellaplane's intent is to gain a political power base, and pick the next president of the United States...one who will be friendly to his interests. Dellaplane fatally shoots his wife Patrice when she discovers his plot, and he plants her body in Jackson's apartment, framing Jackson. Dellaplane is not the kind of guy who would miss Patrice, because he has a mistress named Sydney Ash. Sydney is a local lounge singer and heroin addict. Dellaplane keeps Sydney hooked with a free supply of heroin, delivered in a little velvet-lined box. On the run from the police, Jackson is helped by friends from his old neighborhood -- Sable, a local hotel owner and retired professional boxer, and Dee, a lively local hairdresser and gossip informant who gives Jackson a way to discreetly get to Dellaplane. Jackson and Sydney arrange a meeting with Dellaplane's figurehead replacement for the auto union, unaware that The Invisible Men have been tracking them. What Jackson soon realizes is that Dellaplane intends to enact his plan, and make sure Jackson takes the fall for that too. Jackson and Sydney, along with her bodyguard, Big Edd, find themselves having to fight for their lives against Dellaplane and the Invisible Men.
- Released
- 12 Feb 1988
- Genres
- Action, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 36 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jackson 167 lines, man
- Sydney 90 lines, woman
- Delaplane 45 lines, man
- Jacxson 40 lines
- Patrice 27 lines, woman
- Lack 17 lines, man
- Capt. Armbruster 14 lines, man
- Mulrooney 14 lines, man
- Cotterman 12 lines, man
- Kornblau 12 lines, man
Full cast, 31 people
- Carl Weathers as Sgt. Jericho 'Action' Jackson
- Craig T. Nelson as Peter Dellaplane
- Vanity as Sydney Ash
- Sharon Stone as Patrice Dellaplane
- Thomas F. Wilson as Officer Kornblau
- Robert Davi as Tony Moretti
- Bill Duke as Capt. Earl Armbruster
- Jack Thibeau as Detective Kotterwell
- Roger Aaron Brown as Officer Lack
- Stan Foster as Albert Smith
- Mary Ellen Trainor as Secretary
- Ed O'Ross as Frank Stringer
- Francis X. McCarthy as Oliver O'Rooney
- De'voreaux White as Clovis
- Bob Minor as Gamble
- David Glen Eisley as Thaw
- Dennis Hayden as Shaker
- Brian Libby as Marlin
- Matt Landers as Desk Sgt. #1
- Thomas Wagner as Desk Sgt. #2
- Al Leong as Dellaplane's Chauffeur
- Prince Hughes as Edd
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Poolroom Thug #1
- Branscombe Richmond as Poolroom Thug #2
- James Lew as Martial Arts Instructor
- Armelia McQueen as Dee
- Chino 'Fats' Williams as Kid Sable
- Nicholas Worth as Cartier
- Sonny Landham as Mr. Quick
- Charles Meshack as Poolroom Bartender
- Christopher Broughton as Pickpocket
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 21% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 46
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 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 11 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 11 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 33 |
| 8 to 8 | 3 | 25 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 9 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 to 14 | 3 | 5 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 9 |
| 16 to 16 | 5 | 10 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 8 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 to 19 | 3 | 2 |
| 20 to 20 | 4 | 1 |
| 21 to 21 | 8 | 7 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 to 28 | 16 | 24 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 to 30 | 6 | 4 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 5 |
| 32 to 32 | 2 | 1 |
| 33 to 33 | 8 | 3 |
| 34 to 34 | 4 | 4 |
| 35 to 35 | 2 | 10 |
| 36 to 36 | 9 | 9 |
| 37 to 37 | 4 | 1 |
| 38 to 38 | 0 | 4 |
| 39 to 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 to 40 | 8 | 13 |
| 41 to 41 | 6 | 9 |
| 42 to 42 | 20 | 37 |
| 43 to 43 | 9 | 35 |
| 44 to 44 | 0 | 2 |
| 45 to 45 | 2 | 35 |
| 46 to 46 | 5 | 7 |
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.
128 lines from women, 372 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 26 men in the cast. 8 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 629.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 94 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 28% of the words (2,148), men 72% (5,547). Women have 26% 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
Two women
1
Two men
42
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Craig R. Baxley (man)
- Written by
- Robert Reneau (man)
- Produced by
- Joel Silver (man)
- Shot by
- Matthew F. Leonetti (man)
- Edited by
- Mark Helfrich (man)
- Music by
- Herbie Hancock (man), Michael Kamen (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Vance (woman)
- Cast by
- Karen Rea (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 23 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men
-
Production
1 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Art
1 women, 0 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Vanity 29, Sharon Stone 29
Men
Stan Foster 27, Thomas F. Wilson 28, Robert Davi 36, Roger Aaron Brown 38, Carl Weathers 40, Jack Thibeau 41, Craig T. Nelson 43, Bill Duke 44
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $7 million
- Box office
- $20.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 46 scenes and 629 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
