Passes the Bechdel test
All About Steve
2009. Directed by Phil Traill, written by Kim Barker.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
23 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 198. -
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.
The film
Mary Horowitz writes crossword puzzles for the Sacramento Herald. She's loquacious to a fault. When kids at a Career Day make fun of her for being single, she accepts a blind date with Steve, the cameraman for a CNN-like news network. Within minutes she decides he's the man for her. Quickly put off by her constant verbiage and over-the-top advances, he makes an off-hand remark about going on the road with her, then splits. Moonstruck, she writes a sappy crossword puzzle, loses her job, and decides to follow him as the news team crisscrosses the Southwest; Steve's team eggs her on. Then she falls into a mine shaft, and she and Steve become a story. It a love story?
- Released
- 04 Sep 2009
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 4.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 17 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mary 258 lines, woman
- Hartman 99 lines, man
- Steve 98 lines, man
- Angus 32 lines, man
- Howard 32 lines, man
- Elizabeth 16 lines, woman
- Soloman 10 lines, man
- Teacher 10 lines, woman
- Corbitt 8 lines, man
- Clyde 6 lines
Full cast, 69 people
- Bradley Cooper as Steve
- Sandra Bullock as Mary Horowitz
- Thomas Haden Church as Hartman
- Ken Jeong as Angus
- Katy Mixon as Elizabeth
- DJ Qualls as Howard
- Keith David as Corbitt
- Howard Hesseman as Mr. Horowitz
- Beth Grant as Mrs. Horowitz
- M.C. Gainey as Norm the Truck Driver
- Jason Jones as Vasquez
- Carlos Gómez as Rescue Supervisor
- Holmes Osborne as Soloman
- Delaney Hamilton as Little Deaf Girl
- George Sharperson as Rescuer
- Luenell as Protestor Lydia
- Christina Carlisi as Teacher
- Joe D'Angerio as ABC News Producer
- Shanda Laurent as Bus Driver
- Kerri Kenney as Miss Hancock
- Stephanie Venditto as KNYT Reporter
- P.J. Marino as KNYT Sound Tech
- Wayne Grace as Retired Mine Supervisor
- Mickey Giacomazzi as Skinny Fireman
- Noah Munck as Large Kid
- Bridget Shergalis as Mini-Mary
- James Martin Kelly as Mine Safety Expert
- Andrew Lewis Caldwell as Young Rescuer
- Bryan Moore as Assistant
- Rachel Sterling as Booby Botanist
- Jackie Johnson as CCN Meteorologist
- Regino Montes as Maintenance Guy
- Elliott Cho as Daniel
- Justin Grafman as Deaf Boy
- Joy Darash as Hipster Girl
- Jordan Green as Kid
- Geraldo Rivera as Self
- Beverly Polcyn as Old Lady
- Misha DiBono as Paula
- Dori Kancher as Payroll Clerk
- Vernard 'Bone' Hampton as Security Guard
- Hari Kondabolu as Crossword Businessman
- Jordan Morris as Protestor Winston
- Dorie Barton as Horowitz House Reporter #1
- Patrick Brown as Horowitz House Reporter #2
- Alvera DeLeon as Horowitz House Reporter #3
- Gillian Vigman as Misc. (Female) News Reporter
- Michael Joseph Carr as BBC Reporter
- Larry Dorf as MSNBC Reporter
- Darcy Fowers as Guest Expert
- Lo Mutuc as Young Protester
- Tyrone Giordano as Dad
- Hollie Stenson as Another Reporter
- Paul Beller as Firefighter
- Kurt Ela as Reporter #1
- Kelli Kirkland as Receptionist
- Lucy Davis as Patient
- Hira Ambrosino as Mrs. Yamamoto (uncredited)
- Jonathan Chase as Gregg (uncredited)
- Andre Alexsen as Colorado State Trooper (uncredited)
- Nick Hodaly as CCN Arabic News Anchor (uncredited)
- Sara Sanderson as Houston Anchor (uncredited)
- Martin Dew as Reporter (uncredited)
- Ken Edling as Reporter (uncredited)
- DeeDee Bigelow as Saloon Gal (uncredited)
- Judy Dinella as Park Bench Girl (uncredited)
- Rebecca Hyland as Crap Game Stick Woman (uncredited)
- Eddie Jemison as Psychiatrist with Crossword Puzzle (uncredited)
- Phil Traill as Man at Coffee Shop (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 198
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 5 | 29 | 2 |
| 6 to 10 | 20 | 20 |
| 11 to 15 | 27 | 22 |
| 16 to 20 | 3 | 4 |
| 21 to 25 | 13 | 7 |
| 26 to 30 | 13 | 14 |
| 31 to 35 | 10 | 13 |
| 36 to 40 | 22 | 11 |
| 41 to 45 | 2 | 0 |
| 46 to 50 | 20 | 13 |
| 51 to 55 | 9 | 31 |
| 56 to 60 | 5 | 3 |
| 61 to 65 | 20 | 26 |
| 66 to 70 | 8 | 8 |
| 71 to 75 | 14 | 23 |
| 76 to 80 | 8 | 11 |
| 81 to 85 | 4 | 0 |
| 86 to 90 | 3 | 1 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 2 |
| 96 to 100 | 7 | 12 |
| 101 to 105 | 8 | 14 |
| 106 to 110 | 1 | 2 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 14 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 9 |
| 121 to 125 | 1 | 4 |
| 126 to 130 | 1 | 4 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 4 | 7 |
| 141 to 145 | 4 | 0 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 5 |
| 151 to 155 | 1 | 2 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 to 165 | 1 | 0 |
| 166 to 170 | 1 | 4 |
| 171 to 175 | 12 | 0 |
| 176 to 180 | 1 | 1 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 0 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 1 |
| 191 to 195 | 1 | 2 |
| 196 to 198 | 9 | 3 |
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.
MARY: Four letter word for... vomit. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. it doesn't help. MARY: Not "barf". For sure not "barf". That's too easy. "Puke" is okay, but maybe a bit pedestrian ... I like "hurl". I do. I like the way it roll… MARY: Four letter word for vomit? S-P-E- W. Spew... Sp-ew. A door nearby opens but Mary doesn't budge. A POLICE OFFICER walks out. A 40ish female … TEACHER: We're ready for you now. .
TEACHER: Here's a treat, students. Our final guest for Career Day, Miss Mary Horowitz, is the crossword constructor for the Atlanta Citizen. You know… MARY: You weren't supposed to tell them. TEACHER: Pardon me? MARY: I made a crossword puzzle to help them guess what my job is. You ruined it.
MARY: Be has a point. ELIZABETH: Yay! I love Cloris Leachman.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 49 are women's.
284 lines from women, 298 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
23 women and 32 men in the cast. 3 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 20 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 54% of the words (6,192), men 46% (5,364). Women have 49% 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
Two women
10
Two men
25
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Phil Traill (man)
- Written by
- Kim Barker (woman)
- Produced by
- Mary McLaglen (woman), Sandra Bullock (woman)
- Shot by
- Tim Suhrstedt (man)
- Edited by
- Rod Dean (gender not listed)
- Music by
- Christophe Beck (man)
- Production design by
- Maher Ahmad (man)
- Cast by
- Seth Yanklewitz (man), Juel Bestrop (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 21 men, 28 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 21 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
13 women, 13 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 10 men, 13 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 11 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Lighting
1 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Katy Mixon 28, Sandra Bullock 45, Beth Grant 59
Men
DJ Qualls 31, Bradley Cooper 34, Ken Jeong 40, Thomas Haden Church 49, Keith David 53, M.C. Gainey 61, Howard Hesseman 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $40.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 198 scenes and 607 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
