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Passes the Bechdel test

Boomerang

1992. Directed by Reginald Hudlin, written by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield and Eddie Murphy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    18 women characters. 13 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 6 scenes out of 127.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for Boomerang

The film

Marcus is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger, he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline, is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatized by this, his work goes badly downhill. But then, Jacqueline's more quietly attractive assistant, Angela, who has been dating Marcus' best friend, shows herself more than a little concerned by his perilous state.

Released
01 Jul 1992
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated
R
IMDb
5.7 / 10
Metascore
45 / 100
Awards
1 win & 8 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Marcus 410 lines, man
  2. Jacqueline 168 lines, woman
  3. Angela 103 lines, woman
  4. Dad 52 lines, man
  5. Gerard 38 lines, man
  6. Tyler 31 lines, man
  7. Buster 17 lines, man
  8. Strange ' 16 lines, woman
  9. Christie 9 lines, woman
  10. Lady Evelyn 8 lines, woman
Full cast, 45 people
  • Eddie Murphy as Marcus Graham
  • Robin Givens as Jacqueline 'Jackie / Jack' Broyer
  • Halle Berry as Angela Lewis
  • David Alan Grier as Gerard Jackson
  • Martin Lawrence as Tyler
  • Grace Jones as Strangé
  • Geoffrey Holder as Nelson
  • Eartha Kitt as Lady Eloise
  • Chris Rock as Bony T
  • Tisha Campbell as Yvonne
  • Lela Rochon as Christie
  • John Witherspoon as Mr. Jackson
  • Bebe Drake as Mrs. Jackson
  • John Canada Terrell as Todd
  • Leonard Jackson as Lloyd
  • Jonathan P. Hicks as Lady Eloise's Butler
  • Tom Mardirosian as Salesman
  • Irv Dotten as Box Office Clerk
  • Melvin Van Peebles as Editor
  • Rhonda Jensen as Waitress
  • Alyce Webb as Noreen
  • Frank Rivers as Husband
  • Angela Logan as Wife
  • Chuck Pfeiffer as French Businessman
  • Raye Dowell as Pretty Receptionist
  • Reginald Hudlin as Street Hustler
  • Warrington Hudlin as Street Hustler
  • Andre B. Blake as Waiter (as Andre Blake)
  • Kenn Michael as Kenny
  • Khanya Mkhize as Khanya
  • Chris Rowland as Kid
  • Daryl Mitchell as Street Photographer (as Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell)
  • Gene 'Groove' Allen as Street Photographer
  • Naydia Sanford as Kissable Girl
  • Michelle Griffin as Kissable Girl
  • Frank Tarsia as Strangé's Escort
  • Scott Baird as Strangé's Escort
  • Jeff McBride as Strangé's Escort
  • Herb Kerr as Strangé's Photographer
  • Al Cerullo as Helicopter Pilot
  • Gary Frith as Usher
  • Sandy Moore as Usher
  • Olga Merediz as Guard
  • Tracy Douglas as Attractive Woman
  • Shirley Kirkes as Henrietta Todd (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 127

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 313
4 to 610
7 to 910
10 to 121149
13 to 15109
16 to 1824
19 to 21312
22 to 2421
25 to 2723
28 to 301419
31 to 331631
34 to 361127
37 to 3906
40 to 422216
43 to 451011
46 to 48718
49 to 511920
52 to 5465
55 to 571011
58 to 6034
61 to 63216
64 to 661110
67 to 6977
70 to 72617
73 to 75912
76 to 781417
79 to 811915
82 to 8417
85 to 8717
88 to 90710
91 to 93412
94 to 961312
97 to 99512
100 to 102243
103 to 105109
106 to 108813
109 to 111317
112 to 11467
115 to 117937
118 to 120914
121 to 1231414
124 to 1262721
127 to 12702

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.
JACQUELINE: Of course you wouldn't. LADY EVELYN: I'm not wearing any underwear.
STRANGE ': I hate this. I mean ... look at this! ANGELA: I'm sorry. It's just a prototype. STRANGE: What happened to my idea about the broken glass?! ANGELA: We can't let people cut their hands on the bottle.
ANGELA: Thanks. JACQUELINE: We'll never be able to control Strange' at the press conferences.
JACQUELINE: so ...are you looking forward to Barbados? STRANGE ': I'm not sure I'm going. JACQUELINE: oh, you've got to. All the buyers will be there. It'll be fun. Would you excuse me? I've got to make a call. STRANGE ': . So . . when are we going to fuck?
JACQUELINE: Strange' ... w h a t ' s t h e problem? STRANGE ': I ' m n o t g o i n g t o Barbados. JACQUELINE: Yes, you are. If you aren't on that plane I'll not only take back the million-two we're paying you ...I'll sue you for every goddamn dime yo…

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.

338 lines from women, 580 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

18 women and 22 men in the cast. 13 women and 8 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 971. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 36% of the words (3,849), men 64% (6,754). Women have 37% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 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
Reginald Hudlin (man)
Written by
Barry W. Blaustein (man), David Sheffield (man)
Story by
Eddie Murphy (man)
Produced by
Brian Grazer (man), Warrington Hudlin (man)
Shot by
Woody Omens (man)
Edited by
Earl Watson (man), John Carter (man), Michael Jablow (man)
Music by
Marcus Miller (man)
Production design by
Jane Musky (woman)
Costumes by
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (woman)
Cast by
Aleta Chappelle (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    1 women, 8 men, 1 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 1 men, 4 not listed

  • Sound

    1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 3 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 37 on average. Men: 36 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Tisha Campbell 23, Halle Berry 25, Robin Givens 27, Grace Jones 44, Eartha Kitt 65

Men

Martin Lawrence 27, Chris Rock 27, Eddie Murphy 31, David Alan Grier 35, Geoffrey Holder 61

Exhibit H: the money

It made 3.3 times what it cost.

Budget
$40 million
Box office
$131 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 127 scenes and 971 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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