Passes the Bechdel test
Arthur
2011. Directed by Jason Winer, written by Peter Baynham and Steve Gordon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 133. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Arthur (Russell Brand) is a rich, alcoholic playboy with no regards to his working life. After another drunken run-in with the law, his aloof mother has had enough and forces him to marry Susan (Jennifer Garner), a proper business woman, or else he will lose his inheritance. Just as he's engaged to Susan, he meets Naomi (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited girl who Arthur thinks is perfect for him. Any attempts at holding down a job are fruitless, so Arthur has to decide, what is more important: love, or his mother's money.
- Released
- 08 Apr 2011
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 36 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Arthur 422 lines, man
- Naomi 198 lines, woman
- Hobson 99 lines, woman
- Vivienne 55 lines, woman
- Susan 42 lines, woman
- Burt 18 lines, man
- Ralph 17 lines
- Erica 13 lines
- Justin 8 lines
- Marty 8 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Russell Brand as Arthur
- Helen Mirren as Hobson
- Greta Gerwig as Naomi Quinn
- Jennifer Garner as Susan Johnson
- Geraldine James as Vivienne
- Luis Guzmán as Bitterman
- Nick Nolte as Burt Johnson
- Peter Van Wagner as Naomi's Dad
- Christina Jacquelyn Calph as Tiffany
- John Hodgman as Peter, Candy Store Manager
- Murphy Guyer as Officer Kaplan
- Saul Stein as Officer #2
- José Ramón Rosario as Employment Clerk
- John Hodgman as Candy Store Manager
- Scott Adsit as Gummy Bear Man
- Evander Holyfield as Boxing Trainer
- Robert Clohessy as Veteran Cop
- Ed Herbstman as Rookie Cop
- Jared Parker as Wedding Kid
- Tom Toner as Wedding Priest
- Richard Bekins as Chancellor
- Matt Malloy as Spoon Guy
- Nigel Barker as Photographer
- Tuffy Questell as Tito
- Sara Chase as Journalist #1
- Ali Reza as Journalist #2
- Brian McElhaney as College Student
- Charlie Hewson as Receptionist / Best Man
- Peter Brouwer as Auctioneer
- Stink Fisher as Foreman
- Debbie Lee Jones as Kissed Woman
- Pascal Yen-Pfister as Maitre D'
- Dylan Clark Marshall as Boy on Tour
- Steve Rosen as Grand Central Waiter
- Leslie Hendrix as Alice Johnson
- George Feaster as James
- Ed Jewett as Group Leader
- John Carrafa as Choreographer
- Jennie Eisenhower as Maid of Honor
- Sean Tarjyoto as Bookstore Clerk
- Pamela Stewart as Librarian
- Skai Jackson as Library Girl #1
- Tori Feinstein as Library Girl #2
- Jackson Nicoll as Library Boy #1
- Devin Almonte as Susan's Bridesmaid (uncredited)
- Jamie Choi as Bridesmaid (uncredited)
- Tatsumi Romano as Tour Girl (uncredited)
- Chelsey Donn as Clerk (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 | 22 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 16 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 15 | 12 |
| 19 to 21 | 9 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 19 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 24 | 14 |
| 28 to 30 | 30 | 35 |
| 31 to 33 | 10 | 8 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 5 |
| 37 to 39 | 22 | 59 |
| 40 to 42 | 9 | 4 |
| 43 to 45 | 32 | 40 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 28 | 24 |
| 52 to 54 | 12 | 10 |
| 55 to 57 | 19 | 20 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 15 | 20 |
| 67 to 69 | 5 | 10 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 30 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 37 | 23 |
| 85 to 87 | 6 | 7 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 8 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 9 |
| 100 to 102 | 16 | 32 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 4 | 3 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 0 |
| 118 to 120 | 10 | 13 |
| 121 to 123 | 6 | 10 |
| 124 to 126 | 7 | 8 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 1 |
| 130 to 132 | 2 | 4 |
| 133 to 133 | 0 | 1 |
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.
HOBSON: You're late for your mother! NAOMI: Sorry, this pretzel stand is a watering hole for the crazies. The soup kitchen's just up and to the left, honey.
HOBSON: Ma'am? VIVIENNE: No. You can leave.
HOBSON: I must be. HOBSON: Please stop this, I can't inhale and am in danger of treading on one of your knuckles. HOBSON: If you and your undershirt would walk two paces back I could enter this dwelling. NAOMI: Well, well.
VIVIENNE: Splendid affair, Susan. SUSAN: Don't thank me, thank Erica.
NAOMI: Is this the Vivienne? VIVIENNE: Crowded field, writing.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
401 lines from women, 478 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 32 men in the cast. 4 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 73 of 970.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 72 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 48% of the words (5,006), men 52% (5,488). Women have 46% 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
15
Two men
8
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jason Winer (man)
- Written by
- Peter Baynham (man)
- Story by
- Steve Gordon (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Brezner (man), Kevin McCormick (man), Chris Bender (man), Michael Tadross (man)
- Shot by
- Uta Briesewitz (woman)
- Edited by
- Brent White (man)
- Music by
- Theodore Shapiro (man)
- Production design by
- Sarah Knowles (woman)
- Costumes by
- Juliet Polcsa (woman)
- Cast by
- Kathleen Chopin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 19 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 2 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 11 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
3 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Christina Jacquelyn Calph 25, Greta Gerwig 27, Jennifer Garner 38, Geraldine James 60, Helen Mirren 65
Men
Russell Brand 35, John Hodgman 39, John Hodgman 39, Luis Guzmán 54, Nick Nolte 70
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $48.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 970 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
