Passes the Bechdel test
Burn After Reading
2008. Directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 147. -
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
Osbourne Cox, a Balkan expert, resigned from the CIA because of a drinking problem, so he begins a memoir. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, a philandering State Department marshal, to leave his wife. A CD-ROM falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for cosmetic surgery, and Chad, an amiable goof. Information on the disc leads them to Osbourne who rejects their sales pitch; then they visit the Russian embassy. To sweeten the pot, they decide they need more of Osbourne's secrets. Meanwhile, Linda's boss likes her, and Harry's wife leaves for a book tour. All roads lead to Osbourne's house.
- Released
- 12 Sep 2008
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards. 8 wins & 32 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Linda 195 lines, woman
- Harry 163 lines, man
- Osbourne 116 lines, man
- Chad 102 lines, man
- Katie 65 lines, woman
- Ted 57 lines, man
- Palmer 55 lines, man
- Gardner Chubb 42 lines, man
- Sandy 34 lines, woman
- Man 21 lines, man
Full cast, 62 people
- George Clooney as Harry Pfarrer
- Frances McDormand as Linda Litzke
- Brad Pitt as Chad Feldheimer
- John Malkovich as Osborne Cox
- Tilda Swinton as Katie Cox
- Richard Jenkins as Ted
- Elizabeth Marvel as Sandy Pfarrer
- David Rasche as CIA Officer
- J.K. Simmons as CIA Superior
- Olek Krupa as Krapotkin
- Michael Countryman as Alan
- Kevin Sussman as Tuchman Marsh Man
- J.R. Horne as Divorce Lawyer
- Hamilton Clancy as Peck
- Armand Schultz as Olson
- Pun Bandhu as Party Guest
- Karla Mosley as Party Guest
- Jeffrey DeMunn as Cosmetic Surgeon
- Richard Poe as Stretching Gym Patron
- Carmen M. Herlihy as Prospective Gym Customer
- Raul Aranas as Manolo
- Judy Frank as Lawyer's Secretary
- Sándor Técsy as Russian Embassy Escort
- Yury Tsykun as Senior Russian Embassy Man
- Brian O'Neill as Hal
- Robert Prescott as Process Server
- Matt Walton as Morning Show Host
- Lori Hammel as Morning Show Hostess
- Crystal Bock as PR Woman
- Patrick Boll as Sandy's Man
- Logan Kulick as Four-Year-Old Patient
- Dermot Mulroney as Star of "Coming Up Daisy"
- Robert R. Barry as Drunken Princetonian
- Ted Bouton as Drunken Princetonian
- Bob Bowersox as Drunken Princetonian
- Oliver Buckingham as Drunken Princetonian
- Michael Fawcett as Drunken Princetonian
- William Fowle as Drunken Princetonian
- Charles Gemmill as Drunken Princetonian
- Mitch Giannunzio as Drunken Princetonian
- Cliff Goulet as Drunken Princetonian
- William D. Grey as Drunken Princetonian
- Gary Henderson as Drunken Princetonian
- Ron Kidd as Drunken Princetonian
- Bill Massof as Drunken Princetonian
- Brian McKeon as Drunken Princetonian
- Ken McNeill as Drunken Princetonian
- Tim Miller as Drunken Princetonian
- Jay Parks as Drunken Princetonian
- Roger Rathburn as Drunken Princetonian
- Eric Richardson as Drunken Princetonian
- Bart Wilder as Drunken Princetonian
- Stephen Ananicz as Gym Guy (uncredited)
- Matt Cannon as Tourist (uncredited)
- Kimberly Dorsey as Tourist (uncredited)
- Lil Rhee as Tourist (uncredited)
- Liam Ferguson as Businessman (uncredited)
- Matthew James Gulbranson as Midwestern Tourist (uncredited)
- RJ Konner as Senator (uncredited)
- Douglas Nelson as Man in Park (uncredited)
- Kevin Tan as Suspicious Tourist - Day Player (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Mowery as Suspicious Man (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 147
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 | 31 |
| 5 to 8 | 18 | 34 |
| 9 to 12 | 5 | 12 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 4 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 7 | 11 |
| 29 to 32 | 17 | 12 |
| 33 to 36 | 8 | 1 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 8 | 10 |
| 45 to 48 | 6 | 25 |
| 49 to 52 | 17 | 16 |
| 53 to 56 | 25 | 49 |
| 57 to 60 | 15 | 18 |
| 61 to 64 | 10 | 17 |
| 65 to 68 | 20 | 22 |
| 69 to 72 | 3 | 24 |
| 73 to 76 | 17 | 17 |
| 77 to 80 | 10 | 20 |
| 81 to 84 | 4 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 5 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 8 | 32 |
| 93 to 96 | 5 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 13 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 40 |
| 117 to 120 | 38 | 36 |
| 121 to 124 | 13 | 46 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 7 |
| 129 to 132 | 17 | 16 |
| 133 to 136 | 9 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 18 | 22 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 16 |
| 145 to 147 | 0 | 53 |
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.
LINDA: Yes! LINDA: ... English! LINDA: ... Agent! LINDA DRIVING: ... Agent! Agent!
PR WOMAN: That was way out of line. We were so unbelievably clear with them: just an Oliver segment. SANDY: It's fine. PR WOMAN: Del and Connie are such putzes. SANDY: It's fine. Thank you. We're finished.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 33 are women's.
307 lines from women, 624 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 40 men in the cast. 7 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 33 of 983.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 29% of the words (2,250), men 71% (5,510). Women have 33% 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
2
Two men
25
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
- Written by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Produced by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Emmanuel Lubezki (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Jess Gonchor (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 5 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 7 men
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 55 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Marvel 38, Tilda Swinton 47, Frances McDormand 51
Men
Brad Pitt 44, George Clooney 47, J.K. Simmons 53, John Malkovich 54, Richard Jenkins 61, Olek Krupa 61, David Rasche 64
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $37 million
- Box office
- $164 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 147 scenes and 983 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
