Fails the Bechdel test

American Sniper

Name: American Sniper
Released: 2015

2015. Directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Jason Hall and Chris Kyle and Scott McEwen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 7 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

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was nothing more than a Texas man who dreamt of becoming a cowboy, but in his thirties he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the S.E.A.L.s in order to become a sniper. After marrying Taya (Sienna Miller), Kyle and the other members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle's struggle isn't with his missions, but about his relationship with the reality of the war and, once returned at home, how he manages to handle it with his urban life, his wife, and kids.

Released: 16 Jan 2015
Genres: Action, Biography, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 73 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 45 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Chris 312 lines, man
Taya 131 lines, woman
Biggles 63 lines, man
Marc Lee 53 lines, man
Chris Kyle 48 lines, man
Jeff 16 lines, man
Master Chief Martin 14 lines, man
Instructor Rolle 13 lines, man
Ranger One 12 lines, man
Col. Jones 11 lines, man

Full cast, 83 people

Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle
Sienna Miller as Taya Renae Kyle
Kyle Gallner as Goat-Winston
Cole Konis as Young Chris Kyle
Ben Reed as Wayne Kyle
Elise Robertson as Debbie Kyle
Keir O'Donnell as Jeff Kyle
Luke Sunshine as Young Jeff Kyle
Kevin Lacz as Dauber
Troy Vincent as Pastor
Brandon Salgado Telis as Bully
Chance Kelly as Lt. Col. Jones
Marnette Patterson as Sarah
Billy Miller as Navy Recruiter
Leonard Roberts as Instructor Rolle
Reynaldo Gallegos as Tony
Jake McDorman as Biggles
Cory Hardrict as "D" / Dandridge
Eric Ladin as "Squirrel" / Case
Brando Eaton as Dapper Navy Man
James Ryen as PO Kaman
Luke Grimes as Marc Lee
Sammy Sheik as Mustafa
Evan Gamble as Jag Officer #1
Tim Griffin as Colonel Gronski
Brian Hallisay as Capt. Gillespie
Navid Negahban as Sheikh Al-Obeidi
Fehd Benchemsi as Terp #1
Eric Close as DIA Agent Snead
Zack Duhame as Contractor
Mido Hamada as The Butcher
Kathe Mazur as Dr. Hallerman
Sam Jaeger as Navy Seal Lt. Martin
Assaf Cohen as Terp #2
Fahim Fazli as Messianic Tribal Leader
Hector Bucio as PFC Alvarez
Jonathan Groff as Young Vet-Mads
Melissa Hayden as Receptionist
Pamela Denise Weaver as Marc Lee's Mom
James D. Dever as Funeral Detail OIC
Owain Yeoman as Ranger One
Greg Duke as MRAP Gunner
Max Charles as Colton
Robert Clotworthy as VA Doctor
Anthony Jennings as Veteran #2
Vincent Selhorst-Jones as Veteran at Truck
Jason Hall as Cowboy
Jason Walsh as Instructor #2
Jonathan Kowalsky as 1st Marine #2
Shane Habberstad as 1st Marine #1
Kevin Ryan as Marine Viper #4
Benjamin Mathes as JAG Officer #2
Luis Jose Lopez as Sanchez
Had Mhidi Senhaji as Omar
Ryan Sadaghiani as Son
Ayman Samman as Father
Salah Salea as Angry Neighbor
Aidan McGraw as Young Colton
Ferguson Reid as Navy Doctor
Mark Thomason as Chaplain
Amie Farrell as Marc Lee's Wife
Quay Terry as Firing Party NCO
Tami Goveia as Navy Nurse
Leon Farmer as Marine Gate Guard #1
Paul Meixner as Marine Gate Guard #2
Victoria Reina Sigloch as Marine Gate Guard #3
Joel Lambert as Delta Sniper
Tony Nevada as Recon Sniper
Brett Edwards as Recon Gunner
Nick Salter as Navy Dispatch Officer
Ricky Ryba as Cobra Pilot
Jet Jurgensmeyer as Colton's Friend
Madeleine McGraw as McKenna
Elizabeth Schmidt as Boy's Mom
Bryan Anderson as Wynn's Friend
Jacob Schick as Wynn
Wade White as Veteran #1
Erik Audé as Thompson
Amber Alexander as Drinking Buddy (uncredited)
Belle Angel as Doctor (uncredited)
Emerson Brooks as Marine Sniper (uncredited)
Clint Eastwood as Church Goer (Uncredited)
E.R. Ruiz as Carjacker #2 (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 129

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	13
4 to 6	0	9
7 to 9	0	5
10 to 12	0	8
13 to 15	4	18
16 to 18	0	29
19 to 21	19	28
22 to 24	1	2
25 to 27	7	9
28 to 30	2	12
31 to 33	9	11
34 to 36	0	8
37 to 39	0	21
40 to 42	0	0
43 to 45	0	15
46 to 48	19	44
49 to 51	0	18
52 to 54	0	23
55 to 57	1	35
58 to 60	1	4
61 to 63	1	24
64 to 66	8	7
67 to 69	13	26
70 to 72	8	27
73 to 75	0	26
76 to 78	0	21
79 to 81	0	22
82 to 84	0	10
85 to 87	8	27
88 to 90	0	24
91 to 93	0	15
94 to 96	0	8
97 to 99	0	19
100 to 102	4	3
103 to 105	5	30
106 to 108	1	16
109 to 111	0	7
112 to 114	0	27
115 to 117	12	15
118 to 120	7	3
121 to 123	0	7
124 to 126	0	0
127 to 129	12	14

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, 17 are women's.

142 lines from women, 690 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 58 men in the cast. 7 women and 51 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 56 of 872. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 100 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 16% of the words (1,220), men 84% (6,343). Women have 17% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood (man)
Written by: Jason Hall (man)
Produced by: Clint Eastwood (man), Robert Lorenz (man), Andrew Lazar (man), Bradley Cooper (man), Peter Morgan (man)
Shot by: Tom Stern (man)
Edited by: Joel Cox (man), Gary D. Roach (man)
Production design by: Charisse Cardenas (woman), James J. Murakami (man)
Costumes by: Deborah Hopper (woman)
Cast by: Geoffrey Miclat (gender not listed)