Passes the Bechdel test
Bruce Almighty
2003. Directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
38 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 138. -
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.
The film
Bruce Nolan, a television reporter in Buffalo, NY, is discontented with almost everything in life despite his popularity and the love of his girlfriend Grace. At the end of the worst day of his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God and God responds. God appears in human form and, endowing Bruce with divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he can do it any better.
- Released
- 23 May 2003
- Genres
- Comedy, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 46 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bruce 384 lines, man
- Grace 162 lines, woman
- God 60 lines, man
- Debbie 41 lines, woman
- Jack 39 lines, man
- Bobby 25 lines, man
- Susan 20 lines, woman
- Janitor 17 lines, man
- Evan 16 lines, man
- Ally 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 114 people
- Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan
- Morgan Freeman as God
- Jennifer Aniston as Grace Connelly
- Philip Baker Hall as Jack Baylor
- Catherine Bell as Susan Ortega
- Lisa Ann Walter as Debbie
- Steve Carell as Evan Baxter
- Nora Dunn as Ally Loman
- Eddie Jemison as Bobby
- Paul Satterfield as Dallas Coleman
- Mark Kiely as Fred Donohue
- Sally Kirkland as Anita
- Tony Bennett as Tony Bennett
- Timothy Di Pri as Bruce's Cameraman
- Brian Tahash as Bruce's Soundman
- Lou Felder as Pete Fineman
- Lillian Adams as Mama Kowolski
- Christopher Darga as Vol Kowolski
- Jack Jozefson as Homeless Man
- Mark Adair-Rios as Hood
- Enrique Almeida as Hood
- Noel Gugliemi as Hood
- Rolando Molina as Hood
- Emilio Rivera as Hood
- Mary Pat Gleason as Heavyish Woman
- Don Dowe as Camera Operator
- P.J. Byrne as Panicked Newsroom Staffer
- Albert P. Santos as Hood
- Madeline Lovejoy as Zoe
- Jovan Allie as Martin
- Koby Allie as Martin
- Dan Desmond as Bill
- Selma Stern as Irene Dansfield
- Alfred Dennis as Old Man
- Rina Fernandez as Pretty Woman
- Robert Curtis Brown as Phil Sidleman
- Michael Brownlee as Newscaster
- Ted Garcia as Newscaster
- Maria Quiban as Newscaster
- Shaun Robinson as Newscaster
- Saida Pagan as Newscaster
- Ken Rudulph as Newscaster
- Gina St. John as Newscaster
- Michael Villani as Newscaster
- Christina Grandy as Office Staffer
- Allen Lulu as Office Staffer
- Jamison Yang as Office Staffer
- Bette Rae as Hazel
- Andrew Hateley as Teenager
- Nick Huff as Teenager
- Greg Collins as Coach Tucker
- Dougald Park as Stalled Car Guy
- Susan Ware as Party Woman
- John Rosenfeld as Business Man
- Carey Scott as Partying Sports Guy
- David A. Clemons as Rioter
- Bradley Stryker as College Rioter
- Michael Guarnera as Riot Leader
- Laura Carson as Nurse
- Zachary Aaron Krebs as Paramedic
- Ben Livingston as Paramedic
- Nelson Mashita as Doctor
- Glen Yrigoyen as Trainer
- Dohn Norwood as Police Training Center Officer
- Michael Olifiers as Police Training Center Officer
- Howard S. Lefstein as Phil's Soundman
- Miah Won as Connie - Masseuse
- Darcy Fowers as Attractive Woman at Restaurant
- Laura-Shay Griffin as Attractive Woman at Restaurant
- Darius Rose as Tyler
- Micayla Bowden as Day Care Kid
- Sammy Boyarsky as Day Care Kid
- Dylan Ferguson as Day Care Kid
- Cubbie Kile as Day Care Kid
- Emily Needham as Day Care Kid
- Alex Villiers as Day Care Kid
- Moe Daniels as Day Care Teacher
- Ara Celi as Woman at Party
- Jessica Leigh Mattson as Woman at Party
- Allison McCurdy as Woman at Party
- Patti McLafferty as Woman at Party
- Janelle Pierzina as Woman at Party
- Annie Wersching as Woman at Party
- Ashley Yegan as Woman at Party
- Micah Williams as Boy on Bike
- William Thomas, Jr. as Technical Director
- Tom Beyer as Stage Manager
- Max Grodénchik as Control Room Operator
- Michael Bofshever as Control Room Operator
- Colby French as Control Room Operator
- Manny Suárez as Control Room Operator
- Shashawnee Hall as Camera Operator
- Carrie Quinn Dolin as Teleprompter Operator
- Vanna Salviati as Bobby's Aunt
- Scott DeFoe as K-9 Tech
- David Carrera as Phil's Cameraman
- Jennie Baek as Driver (uncredited)
- Joseph Buttler as Baker (uncredited)
- Curt Clendenin as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Sabrina Culver as Office Staffer (uncredited)
- Ron Jeremy as Man in Diner (uncredited)
- Chris Johns as Waiter (uncredited)
- Brian La Rosa as Man in Street (uncredited)
- Karen Levine as Newsroom Staff (uncredited)
- Ryan McGonagle as Lottery Riot Hooligan (uncredited)
- Gino Montesinos as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Stephanie Nash as Mother with Boy (uncredited)
- Adrian Neil as James (uncredited)
- Mandana Rothschild as Woman at Party (uncredited)
- Danny Salay as Rioter (uncredited)
- Rico Simonini as Doctor (uncredited)
- Catherine Petra Villalobos as Misty (uncredited)
- Gary Rodriguez as Precision Driver (uncredited)
- Rando Thomas as Dangerous Driver (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 138
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 | 16 | 25 |
| 4 to 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 13 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 36 |
| 13 to 15 | 29 | 30 |
| 16 to 18 | 11 | 6 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 5 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 to 36 | 6 | 14 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 10 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 51 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 9 |
| 49 to 51 | 20 | 30 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 21 |
| 55 to 57 | 7 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 4 | 5 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 8 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 30 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 19 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 11 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 1 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 30 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 19 | 44 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 4 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 22 | 18 |
| 106 to 108 | 21 | 34 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 9 | 15 |
| 115 to 117 | 5 | 18 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 32 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 3 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 14 |
| 130 to 132 | 1 | 1 |
| 133 to 135 | 6 | 5 |
| 136 to 138 | 11 | 29 |
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.
DEBBIE: No, it's Debbie. The sister who's life you're not wasting. GRACE: Hey. DEBBIE: What? GRACE: Sorry, honey. My sister seems to think she's my mother. Where are you?
DEBBIE: Moooo. GRACE: Stop it.
GRACE: . Get the car, Deb. DEBBIE: Right.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.
255 lines from women, 602 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
38 women and 69 men in the cast. 9 women and 30 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 903.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 82 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (2,631), men 73% (7,141). Women have 30% 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
9
Two men
28
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 19 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom Shadyac (man)
- Written by
- Steve Oedekerk (man), Steve Koren (man), Mark O'Keefe (man)
- Story by
- Mark O'Keefe (man), Steve Koren (man)
- Produced by
- Jim Carrey (man), Steve Koren (man), James D. Brubaker (man), Mark O'Keefe (man), Michael Bostick (man), Tom Shadyac (man)
- Shot by
- Dean Semler (man)
- Edited by
- Scott Hill (man)
- Music by
- John Debney (man)
- Production design by
- Linda DeScenna (woman)
- Costumes by
- Judy L. Ruskin (woman)
- Cast by
- Junie Lowry-Johnson (woman), Ron Surma (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
9 women, 16 men, 16 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 13 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 16 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 5 men, 10 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Aniston 34, Catherine Bell 34, Lisa Ann Walter 39, Nora Dunn 51
Men
Eddie Jemison 39, Steve Carell 40, Jim Carrey 41, Paul Satterfield 42, Morgan Freeman 65, Philip Baker Hall 71
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $80 million
- Box office
- $485 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 138 scenes and 903 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
