Passes the Bechdel test

Blow

Name: Blow
Released: 2001

2001. Directed by Ted Demme, written by Bruce Porter and David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
30 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 169.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes bankrupt. George does not want the same thing to happen to him, and his friend Tuna, in the 1960's, suggests that he deal marijuana. He is a big hit in California in the 1960's, yet he goes to jail, where he finds out about the wonders of cocaine. As a result, when released, he gets rich by bringing cocaine to America. However, he soon pays the price.

Released: 06 Apr 2001
Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 52 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 9 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

George 424 lines, man
Diego 98 lines, man
Mirtha 46 lines, woman
Derek 43 lines, man
Fred 38 lines, man
Barbara 36 lines, woman
Tuna 32 lines, man
Escobar 29 lines, man
Kristina 29 lines, woman
Kevin 28 lines, man

Full cast, 104 people

Johnny Depp as George Jung
Penélope Cruz as Mirtha Jung
Franka Potente as Barbara Buckley
Rachel Griffiths as Ermine Jung
Paul Reubens as Derek Foreal
Jordi Mollà as Diego Delgado
Cliff Curtis as Escobar
Miguel Sandoval as Augusto Oliveras
Ethan Suplee as Tuna
Ray Liotta as Fred Jung
Kevin Gage as Leon Minghella
Max Perlich as Kevin Dulli
Jesse James as Young George
Miguel Pérez as Alessandro
Dan Ferro as Cesar Toban
Tony Amendola as Sanchez
Bobcat Goldthwait as Mr. T
Michael Tucci as Dr. Bay
Monet Mazur as Maria
Lola Glaudini as Rada
Jennifer Gimenez as Inez
Emma Roberts as Young Kristina Jung
Jaime King as Kristina Jung
Charles Noland as Jack Stevens
Pamela Abdy as Beach Woman #3
John Harrington Bland as FBI Waiter #1
Jimmy Burke as FBI Waiter #4
Brantley Bush as FBI Waiter #3
Kevin Chapman as DEA Eastham
The Dawk as Guard (Visit Area #2)
Ted Demme as Archie Sigmond
Crystal Erickson as Stewardess #1
Daniel Escobar as Emilio Ochoa
Tracy Falco as Beach Woman #2
Jean-Carlos Felix as Prison Guard (Warden's Office)
Lazaro Galarraga as Band Singer
Brian Goodman as Guard Gus
Vanessa Grayson as Stewardess #3
Elif Guertin as Stewardess #2
Josh Herman as Detective #1
Faith Hoover as Stewardess #6
Brad Hunt as GG
Patrick Husted as Bank Manager (Mass.)
Kristina Jung as Clerk
Ralph Kampshoff as Guard (Visit Area ä1)
Ajgie Kirkland as James Trout
Skip O'Brien as Customs Agent
Richard LaGravenese as Detective #2
Roberto Lopez as Guard (Danbury)
Lydell M. Cheshier as Inmate #3
Dorothy Lyman as Judge (Chicago)
Jodie Mann as Nurse (Cape Cod)
Charles Martiniz as Bank Employee
Genevieve Maylam as Beach Woman #1
Gonzalo Menendez as Ramon Ochoa
Mauricio Mendoza as Benny
Carlos Mendoza as Tony
Alan James Morgan as Young Tuna
Randy Mulkey as Employee #1
Kathleen Mullan as Beach Woman #5
Meriah Nelson as Stewardess #4
Tony Perez as Bank President
Jack Polick as Ben
Michael Ralph as Inmate #2
Raoul N. Rizik as Rafael Ojeda
Matt Robinson as Inmate #1
Elizabeth Rodriguez as Martha Oliveras
Bert Rosario as Bank President (Panama)
Leslie Schirrmacher as Stewardess #5
Dale Snowberger as FBI Waiter #2
Sophie Tsimel as Beach Woman #4
Julia Vera as Clara Blanca
Santiago Verdu as Juan Carlos
Pamela Walker as FBI Waiter #5
Dan Andreiu as Prison Inmate (uncredited)
Ricardo Azulay as Restaurant / Bar Patron (uncredited)
Twyla Banks as Inmate's Daughter (uncredited)
Anastasia Blue as One of Derek Foreal's Party Girls (uncredited)
Greg Bronson as Prison Inmate (uncredited)
Nick Cassavetes as Man in Derek's Salon (uncredited)
Lisa Claire as Beach Vendor (uncredited)
Al Coronel as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Ari Davis as Car Mechanic (uncredited)
Anna de Cardi as Friend at Pool Party (uncredited)
Dana Emberson as Beach Cyclist (uncredited)
Janine Foster as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Miguel Ángel Fuentes as Body Guard for Pablo Escobar (uncredited)
Ted Hollis as Male Patron (uncredited)
Jorge Jimenez as Alessandro's Guy (uncredited)
Jacque Lawson as Biker (uncredited)
Melissa Reneé Martin as One of Derek Foreal's Party Girls (uncredited)
Katy Mikelle as Officer (uncredited)
Pino Moreau as Colombian Drug Dealer (uncredited)
Tony Tanelli Oliver as Inmate #3 (uncredited)
Jo Price as Business Woman (uncredited)
Hayden Rae as Head Security Guard (Bank Safe) (uncredited)
Bobby Reed as DEA Agent (uncredited)
Leonel Rendón as Priest (uncredited)
Joe Rosario as Banker (uncredited)
Antonio Rufino as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
R. Blakeley Smith as Sven (uncredited)
Joey Sotello as Party Guest (uncredited)
Crafty St. James as Airplane Mechanic (uncredited)
Bill Willens as Biker (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 169

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	0
5 to 8	0	0
9 to 12	2	9
13 to 16	9	31
17 to 20	3	4
21 to 24	8	18
25 to 28	4	24
29 to 32	2	35
33 to 36	2	4
37 to 40	0	14
41 to 44	3	13
45 to 48	0	10
49 to 52	15	18
53 to 56	13	14
57 to 60	0	2
61 to 64	5	20
65 to 68	5	2
69 to 72	0	37
73 to 76	0	45
77 to 80	0	31
81 to 84	2	44
85 to 88	1	25
89 to 92	0	52
93 to 96	0	2
97 to 100	5	43
101 to 104	1	1
105 to 108	3	2
109 to 112	6	41
113 to 116	8	26
117 to 120	0	30
121 to 124	5	11
125 to 128	8	26
129 to 132	2	23
133 to 136	8	12
137 to 140	12	9
141 to 144	13	35
145 to 148	7	22
149 to 152	0	6
153 to 156	0	7
157 to 160	0	14
161 to 164	8	29
165 to 168	6	14
169 to 169	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 scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

BARBARA: Oh my G-d, I'm so sorry. ERMINE: Barbara, here, take my napkin. BARBARA: Thanks. I'll be okay.

ERMINE: Oh, I see. MIRTHA: Come on. I'll show you the rest of the house.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 17 are women's.

166 lines from women, 805 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

30 women and 53 men in the cast. 11 women and 29 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,031. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 122 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 14% of the words (1,495), men 86% (9,514). 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ted Demme (man)
Written by: David McKenna (man), Nick Cassavetes (man)
Produced by: Joel Stillerman (man), Denis Leary (man), Ted Demme (man), Tomáš Krejčí (man)
Shot by: Ellen Kuras (woman)
Edited by: Kevin Tent (man)
Music by: Graeme Revell (man)
Production design by: Michael Z. Hanan (man)
Costumes by: Mark Bridges (man)
Cast by: Avy Kaufman (woman)