Fails the Bechdel test
American Outlaws
2001. Directed by Les Mayfield, written by Roderick Taylor and John Rogers.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
When a Midwest town learns that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers join forces to take back what is rightfully theirs. In the course of their vendetta, they will become the object of the biggest manhunt in the history of the Old West and, as their fame grows, so will the legend of their leader, a young outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
- Released
- 17 Aug 2001
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Western
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 25 / 100
- Awards
- 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jesse 257 lines, man
- Frank 114 lines, man
- Cole 106 lines, man
- Bob 70 lines, man
- Pinkerton 59 lines, man
- Zee 58 lines, woman
- Rains 46 lines, man
- Jim 40 lines, man
- Parker 36 lines, man
- Comanche Tom 27 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
- Colin Farrell as Jesse James
- Scott Caan as Cole Younger
- Ali Larter as Zerelda "Zee" Mimms
- Gabriel Macht as Frank James
- Gregory Smith as Jim Younger
- Harris Yulin as Thaddeus Rains
- Kathy Bates as Ma James
- Timothy Dalton as Allan Pinkerton
- Will McCormack as Bob Younger
- Ronny Cox as Doc Mimms
- Terry O'Quinn as Rollin H. Parker
- Nathaniel Arcand as Comanche Tom
- Ty O'Neal as Clell Miller
- Joe Stevens as Loni Packwood
- Barry Tubb as Captain Malcolm
- Jack Watkins as Detective
- Tom Schuster as Union Officer
- Lee Ritchey as Bank Manager
- Robin Christian-McNair as Woman
- Ed Geldart as Old Man Tucker
- Brad Leland as Sheriff
- Craig Erickson as Deputy
- Mark Walters as Engineer
- Michael Stephen Costello as Senator
- Jack Gould as Head Teller
- Morgana Shaw as Lyla
- Brady Coleman as Driver
- Richard Andrew Jones as Pastor
- Steven Bland as Man
- Jerry Cotton as Teller
- Muse Watson as Burly Detective
- Lane Thomas Wilson as Boy Soldier
- Ron Hayden as Union Lieutenant
- Darryl Cox as Jenkins
- Riley Flynn as Union Commander
- Joe Brown as Pinkerton Commander
- Shawn Patrick Nash as Hangman
- Jessica M.E. Nitsch as Loni's Girl
- Big Skinny Brown as Harlan (uncredited)
- Pei-San Brown as Saloon Girl (uncredited)
- Anne Carr as Gang Horse Rider (uncredited)
- Steve Crawford as Troublemaker (uncredited)
- Frank G. Curcio as Hold-up Victim (uncredited)
- Lisa Del Dotto as Townsfolk (uncredited)
- Jeremy Denzlinger as Hyperion Townsfolk (uncredited)
- Troy Dillinger as Pinkerton / Sniper (uncredited)
- Kirk Hunter as Townsfolk (uncredited)
- David Jachin Kelley as Sharpshooter (uncredited)
- Marvin Schroeder as Pinkerton Man (uncredited)
- Chris Warner as Railroad Worker (uncredited)
- Gena West as Townsfolk (uncredited)
- Paul Wright as Civil War Veteran (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 140
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 | 15 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 13 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 25 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 41 |
| 22 to 24 | 7 | 36 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 10 |
| 28 to 30 | 10 | 95 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 21 |
| 43 to 45 | 16 | 36 |
| 46 to 48 | 5 | 9 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 26 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 12 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 13 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 52 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 30 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 27 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 47 |
| 76 to 78 | 9 | 66 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 47 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 8 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 34 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 14 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 19 |
| 109 to 111 | 2 | 16 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 43 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 17 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 3 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 1 |
| 130 to 132 | 1 | 1 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 2 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 12 |
| 139 to 140 | 4 | 30 |
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, 9 are women's.
86 lines from women, 843 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 30 men in the cast. 2 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 109 of 978.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 126 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (1,037), men 93% (12,899). Women have 9% 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
0
Two men
72
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 14 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Les Mayfield (man)
- Written by
- John Rogers (man), Roderick Taylor (man)
- Story by
- Roderick Taylor (man)
- Produced by
- James G. Robinson (man), Bill Gerber (man)
- Shot by
- Russell Boyd (man)
- Edited by
- Greg Parsons (man), Michael Tronick (man)
- Music by
- Trevor Rabin (man)
- Production design by
- Cary White (man), John Frick (man)
- Costumes by
- Luke Reichle (man)
- Cast by
- Pam Dixon (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 22 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 11 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ali Larter 25, Kathy Bates 53
Men
Gregory Smith 18, Scott Caan 24, Colin Farrell 25, Will McCormack 27, Gabriel Macht 29, Timothy Dalton 55, Harris Yulin 63, Ronny Cox 63
Exhibit G: the money
It made 39% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $13.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 140 scenes and 978 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
