Fails the Bechdel test

Cast Away

Name: Cast Away
Released: 2000

2000. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by William Broyles Jr..

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 4 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

Memphis-based FedEx operations executive Chuck Noland and grad student Kelly Frears have long dated and lived together, and despite each being the love of the other's life, have not gotten married because of their respective busy schedules, especially Chuck's as he is more often on business trips than he is at home. That marital status changes when on Christmas Day 1995 as Chuck is rushing off to catch yet another FedEx plane for a business trip, he gives Kelly a ring. That flight experiences technical difficulties, and goes down somewhere in the south Pacific. In a life raft, a relatively unharmed Chuck washes up on shore what he will learn is a deserted island, he unaware what has happened to any of his fellow flight mates, or the plane. However several of the packages on board for delivery do wash up on shore with him, those packages which he initially treats with respect. Chuck realizes that his priority is survival - which primarily means food, water, shelter and fire - and rescue. But survival is also in an emotional sense. To fulfill that emotional need, he has an heirloom pocket watch with Kelly's photo that she gave him as a Christmas present, and eventually opening the FedEx packages, a Wilson volleyball on which he paints a face and which he names Wilson. As time progresses, Chuck goes through a range of emotions, but if rescue is ever in the cards, he realizes that he has to find a way to get off the island, which is seemingly impossible in his circumstance due to the strong on shore surf he cannot get beyond without assistance. What Chuck may not fully realize is the longer he is not rescued, the harder it will be for him to return to his old life in its entirety if he ever is rescued. Although the thought of Kelly is what largely keeps him motivated to be rescued, Kelly, who probably believes him to be dead, may have moved on emotionally from him in the intervening time.

Released: 22 Dec 2000
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.8 / 10
Metascore: 74 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars. 15 wins & 36 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Chuck 373 lines, man
Kelly 74 lines, woman
Goodchuck 69 lines, man
Stan 67 lines, man
Badchuck 51 lines
Bettina 18 lines, woman
Mom 18 lines, woman
Technician 13 lines
Doctor 12 lines
Roger 10 lines

Full cast, 49 people

Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland
Helen Hunt as Kelly Frears
Nick Searcy as Stan
Jenifer Lewis as Becca Twig
Geoffrey Blake as Maynard Graham
Peter Von Berg as Yuri
Chris Noth as Jerry Lovett
Lari White as Bettina Peterson
Elden Henson as Elden Madden
Timothy Stack as Morgan Stockton
Paul Sanchez as Ramon
Leonid Citer as Fyodor
David Allen Brooks as Dick Peterson
Yelena Popovic as Beautiful Russian Woman
Valentina Ananina as Russian Babushka
Semion Sudarikov as Nicolai
Dmitri S. Boudrine as Lev
François Duhamel as French FedEx Loader
Michael Forest as Pilot Jack
Viveka Davis as Pilot Gwen
Jennifer Choe as Memphis State Student
Nan Martin as Kelly's Mother
Anne Bellamy as Anne Larson
Dennis Letts as Dennis Larson
Wendy Worthington as Wendy Larson
Skye McKenzie as Skye Larson
Valerie Wildman as Virginia Larson
John Duerler as John Larson
Steve Monroe as Steve Larson
Alyssa Gainer as Katie Larson
Kaitlyn Gainer as Katie Larson
Lauren Gainer as Katie Larson
Albert Pugliese as Gregory Larson
Gregory Pugliese as Gregory Larson
Brandon Reinhardt as Matt Larson
Lisa Long as Lisa Madden
Lauren Birkell as Lauren Madden
Alice Vaughn as Alice Stockton
Chase MacKenzie Bebak as Chase Stockton
Joe Conley as Joe Wally
Aaron Rapke as Ralph Wally
Vince Martin as Albert Miller
Garret Davis as Pilot Blaine
Jay Acovone as Pilot Peter
Christopher Kriesa as Pilot Kevin
Michelle Robinson as FedEx Anchor #1
Tommy Cresswell as FedEx Anchor #2
Rich Sickler as FedEx Manager
Derick Alexander as Taxi Driver

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 7 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 302

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 7	0	0
8 to 14	0	0
15 to 21	1	21
22 to 28	1	18
29 to 35	2	56
36 to 42	0	4
43 to 49	14	13
50 to 56	24	30
57 to 63	2	3
64 to 70	10	30
71 to 77	11	11
78 to 84	0	0
85 to 91	0	5
92 to 98	0	11
99 to 105	0	5
106 to 112	0	6
113 to 119	0	2
120 to 126	0	10
127 to 133	0	8
134 to 140	0	1
141 to 147	0	9
148 to 154	0	1
155 to 161	0	9
162 to 168	0	3
169 to 175	0	4
176 to 182	0	3
183 to 189	0	0
190 to 196	0	4
197 to 203	0	2
204 to 210	0	8
211 to 217	0	2
218 to 224	0	2
225 to 231	0	20
232 to 238	0	18
239 to 245	0	46
246 to 252	0	15
253 to 259	2	11
260 to 266	28	79
267 to 273	0	29
274 to 280	0	5
281 to 287	7	7
288 to 294	16	16
295 to 301	2	19
302 to 302	0	3

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 18 are women's.

120 lines from women, 549 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

15 women and 26 men in the cast. 4 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 787. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 278 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (957), men 83% (4,645). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit D: 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 E: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis (man)
Written by: William Broyles Jr. (man)
Produced by: Tom Hanks (man), Steve Starkey (man), Jack Rapke (man), Robert Zemeckis (man)
Shot by: Don Burgess (man)
Edited by: Arthur Schmidt (man)
Music by: Alan Silvestri (man)
Production design by: Rick Carter (man)
Costumes by: Joanna Johnston (woman)
Cast by: Victoria Burrows (woman)