Passes the Bechdel test
Bean
1997. Directed by Mel Smith, written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 181. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Bean (Rowan Atkinson) works as a caretaker at Britain's formidable Royal National Gallery, and his bosses want to fire him because he sleeps at work all the time, but can't because the chairman of the gallery's board defends him. They send him to the U.S., to the small Los Angeles art gallery instead, where he'll have to officiate at the opening of the greatest U.S. picture ever (called "Whistler's Mother").
- Released
- 07 Nov 1997
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Family
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- David 181 lines, man
- Grierson 61 lines, man
- Alison 57 lines, woman
- Bernie 42 lines, man
- Kevin 34 lines, man
- Bean 28 lines, man
- Jennifer 22 lines, woman
- Annie 21 lines
- Reynolds 16 lines, man
- Lord Walton 15 lines, man
Full cast, 38 people
- Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
- Peter MacNicol as David Langley
- Pamela Reed as Alison Langley
- Tricia Vessey as Jennifer Langley
- Andrew Lawrence as Kevin Langley
- Harris Yulin as George Grierson
- Burt Reynolds as General Newton
- Richard Gant as Lieutenant Brutus
- Chris Ellis as Detective Butler
- Tom McGowan as Walter Merchandise
- Sandra Oh as Bernice Schimmel
- Peter Egan as Lord Walton
- Peter Capaldi as Gareth
- Scott Charles as Timmy Pewker Jr.
- Alison Goldie as Stewardess Nicely
- Julia Pearlstein as Phyllis Quill
- Rob Brownstein as Dick Journo
- Clive Corner as Dr. Cutler
- June Brown as Delilah
- Thomas Mills as Officer Stubbles
- Larry Drake as Elmer
- Johnny Galecki as Stingo Wheelie
- Priscilla Shanks as Sylvia Grierson
- Dakin Matthews as Passenger Tucker
- Peter James as Dr. Rosenblum
- John Mills as Chairman
- Richard Hicks as Kart Pusherman
- Ronnie Yeskel as Mrs. Goodwoman
- Danny Goldring as Security Buck
- Gigi Fields as Nurse Desking
- Lela Ivey as Nurse Pots
- David Doty as Dr. Jacobson
- April Grace as Nurse Pans
- Robert Curtis Brown as Doctor Frowning
- Perry Anzilotti as Dr. Squeaking
- Janni Brenn as Nurse Dyper
- Annette Helde as Nurse Gripes
- Reg Thomason as National Art Gallery Board Member (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 181
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 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 8 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 10 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 10 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 12 |
| 25 to 28 | 11 | 16 |
| 29 to 32 | 7 | 6 |
| 33 to 36 | 9 | 11 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 3 | 3 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 2 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 6 |
| 57 to 60 | 7 | 8 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 4 |
| 65 to 68 | 4 | 34 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 8 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 18 |
| 77 to 80 | 11 | 20 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 2 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 1 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 16 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 36 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 2 | 12 |
| 113 to 116 | 3 | 21 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 15 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 14 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 5 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 7 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 12 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 7 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 9 |
| 145 to 148 | 2 | 9 |
| 149 to 152 | 8 | 11 |
| 153 to 156 | 6 | 10 |
| 157 to 160 | 4 | 18 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 5 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 19 |
| 169 to 172 | 2 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 0 |
| 177 to 180 | 3 | 2 |
| 181 to 181 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ALISON: I said, I'11 go. JENNIFER: So. where do your parents live?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 17 are women's.
90 lines from women, 425 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 22 men in the cast. 2 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 27 of 579.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (802), men 87% (5,347). Women have 17% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
3
Two men
48
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mel Smith (man)
- Written by
- Richard Curtis (man), Robin Driscoll (man)
- Produced by
- Peter Bennett-Jones (man), Tim Bevan (man), Eric Fellner (man)
- Shot by
- Francis Kenny (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Blunden (man)
- Music by
- Howard Goodall (man)
- Production design by
- Peter S. Larkin (man)
- Costumes by
- Hope Hanafin (woman)
- Cast by
- Ronnie Yeskel (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
6 women, 22 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 7 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 7 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 5 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Tricia Vessey 24, Pamela Reed 48
Men
Andrew Lawrence 9, Tom McGowan 37, Chris Ellis 41, Rowan Atkinson 42, Peter MacNicol 43, Richard Gant 53, Harris Yulin 59, Burt Reynolds 61
Exhibit H: the money
It made 14.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $251 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 579 lines of dialogue. How the test works
