Fails the Bechdel test
Bad Boys for Life
2020. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, written by Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan and Chris Bremner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
24 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 2 out of 3.
The film
Marcus and Mike have to confront new issues (career changes and midlife crises), as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel.
- Released
- 17 Jan 2020
- Genres
- Action, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mike 250 lines, man
- Marcus 191 lines, man
- Cam 75 lines, man
- Agent Kessler 33 lines, man
- Ellie 32 lines
- Captain Howard 28 lines, man
- Daltrey 25 lines, man
- Luga 21 lines, man
- Luttrell 21 lines, man
- Sanchez 19 lines
Full cast, 92 people
- Will Smith as Mike
- Martin Lawrence as Marcus
- Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly
- Alexander Ludwig as Dorn
- Charles Melton as Rafe
- Paola Nuñez as Rita
- Kate del Castillo as Isabel Aretas
- Nicky Jam as Zway-Lo
- Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard
- Jacob Scipio as Armando Aretas
- Theresa Randle as Theresa
- DJ Khaled as Manny
- Happy Anderson as Jenkins
- Bianca Bethune as Megan
- Dennis Greene as Reggie
- Michael Bay as Wedding MC
- Gissette Valentin as Mexican Female Prison Guard
- Rose Bianco as Abuela
- Edelia Merida as Abuela
- Jasmin Lawrence as Gorgeous Door Woman
- Shacai O'Neal as Gorgeous Door Woman
- Carlos Guerrero as Javier
- Massi Furlan as Terry Taglin
- Chick Bernhard as Judge Sorenson
- Jennifer Badger as Julie Weber
- Jeff J.J. Authors as Felix the Forensics Guy
- Keith Wheeler as Pastor at Wedding
- Brandi Cohen as Receptionist
- Jay Amor as Rodrigo Vargas
- Yessenia Hernandez as Pool Party Waitress
- Anthony Molinari as Salesman
- Ivo Nandi as Carver Remy
- David Shae as Disturbed Airline Passenger
- Eduardo Rosario as The Butcher
- Rory Markham as Booker Grassie
- Brad Sanders as Police Chaplain
- Damien Butler as Lt. Butler
- Bilall Fallah as Fael
- Norma Alvarez as Javier's Wife
- Adil El Arbi as Rideshare Driver
- Christina Christensen as Female Basketball Referee
- Nahima Bicelis as Female Cop on Radio
- Erroll Castrillo as Police Boat Cop on Radio
- Kial Butler as Skipping Stunt Cop on Radio
- Sharon Pfeiffer as Tour Bus Guide
- Porshia C. Joseph as Wedding Singer
- Ellison Kendrick as Wedding Singer
- Athena Akers as Poi Performer (uncredited)
- Adrian De Armas as Miami Tourist (uncredited)
- Laura Ault as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Misty Autery as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- James William Ballard as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Austin Bollinger as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Mario 'Vocol' Booker as Zwaylo Boy 2 (uncredited)
- Thomas Brag as Jeffrey - Cake Boy (uncredited)
- Troy Brenna as Aretas Thug (uncredited)
- Sergio Briones as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Landon Brooks as Doctor (uncredited)
- Ruben E. A. Brown as South Beach Patron (uncredited)
- Lauren Buglioli as Reporter (uncredited)
- Ricardo Burgos as Mall Shopper / Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Santos Caraballo as Tommy Bahama Type (uncredited)
- Matthew Carter as Club King (uncredited)
- Joe Crosson as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Ellen Marguerite Cullivan as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- José Alfredo Fernandez as Cartel Member (uncredited)
- Darin Ferraro as Spa Attendant (uncredited)
- Fred Galle as Distinguished Gentleman (uncredited)
- Joseph Giambrone as Tourist on Bus (uncredited)
- Derrick Gilbert as Kid (uncredited)
- Jenin Gonzalez as Valet Precision Driver (uncredited)
- Wil Gonzalez as Cartel Member (uncredited)
- Steve Heinz as High End Mall Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Elvia Hill as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Cal Johnson as Lyft Driver (uncredited)
- Julia Kay as Mall Visitor / Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Melissa Kennemore as Major Patel Miami PD (uncredited)
- Tony Kim as Club Guy (uncredited)
- D.L. Lewis as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Hans Marrero as Ambulance Guy #1 (uncredited)
- Ryan L. Price as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Scott Rapp as Detective (uncredited)
- Ashae Reagan as Bikini Girl (uncredited)
- Felicia M. Reyes as Mexican Prisoner (uncredited)
- Manuel Rivera as Airplane Passenger (uncredited)
- London Seabreeze as Sexy Model (uncredited)
- Pedro Tavarez Jr. as Mall Shopper (uncredited)
- Emily Towles as Hot Miami Model (uncredited)
- Jamil C. Winston as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Keiko Bell as Club Patron (uncredited)
- Robert Tinsley as Uniformed Police Officer (uncredited)
- Tureygua Inaru as Beach Goer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 267
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 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 to 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 to 18 | 1 | 16 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 13 |
| 25 to 30 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 to 36 | 12 | 27 |
| 37 to 42 | 1 | 6 |
| 43 to 48 | 4 | 26 |
| 49 to 54 | 0 | 47 |
| 55 to 60 | 0 | 24 |
| 61 to 66 | 0 | 29 |
| 67 to 72 | 0 | 12 |
| 73 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 84 | 0 | 7 |
| 85 to 90 | 0 | 3 |
| 91 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 102 | 0 | 12 |
| 103 to 108 | 2 | 14 |
| 109 to 114 | 9 | 28 |
| 115 to 120 | 0 | 41 |
| 121 to 126 | 1 | 21 |
| 127 to 132 | 3 | 29 |
| 133 to 138 | 0 | 40 |
| 139 to 144 | 1 | 37 |
| 145 to 150 | 0 | 0 |
| 151 to 156 | 0 | 9 |
| 157 to 162 | 0 | 31 |
| 163 to 168 | 0 | 3 |
| 169 to 174 | 0 | 6 |
| 175 to 180 | 0 | 39 |
| 181 to 186 | 0 | 12 |
| 187 to 192 | 0 | 3 |
| 193 to 198 | 0 | 3 |
| 199 to 204 | 0 | 0 |
| 205 to 210 | 0 | 5 |
| 211 to 216 | 0 | 3 |
| 217 to 222 | 2 | 30 |
| 223 to 228 | 0 | 21 |
| 229 to 234 | 0 | 20 |
| 235 to 240 | 0 | 2 |
| 241 to 246 | 0 | 12 |
| 247 to 252 | 0 | 12 |
| 253 to 258 | 0 | 0 |
| 259 to 264 | 2 | 31 |
| 265 to 267 | 2 | 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, 6 are women's.
45 lines from women, 709 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
24 women and 43 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 850.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 178 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 3% of the words (263), men 97% (8,351). Women have 6% 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
1
Two men
88
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 18 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Bilall Fallah (man), Adil El Arbi (man)
- Written by
- Joe Carnahan (man), Chris Bremner (man), Peter Craig (man)
- Story by
- Joe Carnahan (man), Peter Craig (man)
- Produced by
- Jerry Bruckheimer (man), Doug Belgrad (man), Will Smith (man)
- Shot by
- Robrecht Heyvaert (man)
- Edited by
- Dan Lebental (man), Peter McNulty (man)
- Music by
- Lorne Balfe (man)
- Production design by
- Jon Billington (man)
- Costumes by
- Dayna Pink (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Vernieu (woman), Lindsay Graham Ahanonu (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Directing
4 women, 14 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 21 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
7 women, 10 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 12 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 12 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 6 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Vanessa Hudgens 31, Paola Nuñez 41, Kate del Castillo 47
Men
Alexander Ludwig 27, Jacob Scipio 27, Charles Melton 29, Nicky Jam 38, Will Smith 51, Martin Lawrence 54, Joe Pantoliano 68
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $427 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 267 scenes and 850 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
