Fails the Bechdel test
Catch Me If You Can
2002. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding and Jeff Nathanson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
33 women characters. 15 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
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
- Released
- 25 Dec 2002
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 75 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 16 wins & 46 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frank 309 lines, man
- Joe Shaye 127 lines, man
- Brenda 51 lines, woman
- Paula 25 lines, woman
- Robert 13 lines
- Fox 9 lines, man
- Amdursky 8 lines, man
- Lucy 8 lines, woman
- Mulligan 8 lines
- Monique 7 lines
Full cast, 128 people
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale Jr.
- Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty
- Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale
- Martin Sheen as Roger Strong
- Nathalie Baye as Paula Abagnale
- Amy Adams as Brenda Strong
- James Brolin as Jack Barnes
- Brian Howe as Earl Amdursky
- Frank John Hughes as Tom Fox
- Steve Eastin as Paul Morgan
- Chris Ellis as Special Agent Witkins
- John Finn as Assistant Director Marsh
- Jennifer Garner as Cheryl Ann
- Nancy Lenehan as Carol Strong
- Ellen Pompeo as Marci
- Elizabeth Banks as Lucy
- Guy Thauvette as Warden Garren
- Candice Azzara as Darcy
- Matthew Kimbrough as Loan Officer
- Joshua Boyd as Football Player
- Kaitlin Doubleday as Joanna
- Kelly McNair as Girl #1
- Jonathan Dankner as Student #1
- Maggie Mellin as Teacher
- Thomas Kopache as Principal Evans
- Margaret Travolta as Ms. Davenport
- Jimmie F. Skaggs as Bartender
- Alex Hyde-White as Mr. Kesner
- Lilyan Chauvin as Mrs. Lavalier
- Eugene Fleming as Ticket Clerk
- Robert Ruth as Hotel Manager
- Jennifer Manley as Ashley
- James Morrison as Pilot
- Robert Symonds as Mr. Rosen
- Jennifer Kan as Female Bank Teller
- Robert Curtis Brown as Front Desk Clerk
- Kelly Hutchinson as Young Female Teller
- Steve Witting as Manager
- Wendy Worthington as Receptionist
- Jane Bodle as TWA Ticket Agent
- J. Patrick McCormack as Auctioneer
- Brian Goodman as Motel Owner
- Ray Proscia as Salesman
- Sarah Lancaster as Riverbend Woman
- Jill Matson-Sachoff as Riverbend Woman
- Mike Baldridge as Terry
- Joel Ewing as Party Guy
- Ritchie Montgomery as Young Doctor
- Jim Antonio as Victor Griffith
- Angela Sorensen as Party Girl
- Jonathan Brent as Dr. Ashland
- Benita Krista Nall as Emergency Nurse
- Shane Edelman as Doctor Harris
- Andrew Meeks as Young Patient
- Morgan Rusler as FBI Agent
- Jane Edith Wilson as Bar Examiner
- Dave Hager as Judge
- Kyle Davis as Kid
- Patrick Thomas O'Brien as Mr. Hendricks
- Jaime Ray Newman as Monica
- Deborah Kellner as Debra Jo
- Mercedes Cornett as Heather
- Amy Acker as Miggy
- Robert Peters as FBI Agent
- James DuMont as FBI Agent
- Thomas Crawford as FBI Agent
- Sarah Rush as Secretary
- Malachi Throne as Abe Penner
- Alfred Dennis as Ira Penner
- Max Kerstein as Penner Brother
- Donna Kimball as TWA Stewardess
- Jan Munroe as Captain Oliver
- Stephen Dunham as Pilot
- Brandon Keener as Pilot
- Jasmine Jessica Anthony as Little Girl
- Anthony Powers as NY Savings Bank Manager
- Lauren Cohn as Female Teller
- Jeremy Howard as Teen Waiter
- Jack Knight as Man #3
- Jamie Anderson as Ilene
- Kam Heskin as Candy
- Ana Maria Quintana as Hotel Maid
- Gerald R. Molen as FBI Agent
- Celine du Tertre as Little Girl on Street
- Stan Bly as Blind Man
- Jamie Moss as Young Man
- Jessica Collins as Peggy
- Frank Abagnale Jr. as French Policeman
- Roger Léger as Prison Guard
- Jean-François Blanchard as French Police Captain
- Mathieu Gaudreault as French Police
- Guy-Daniel Tremblay as French Police
- Alex Bisping as French Police
- Patrice Dussault as French Police
- Paul Todd as Maitre D'
- Jake Wagner as Kid
- Ashley Cohen as Party Twin
- Kelly Cohen as Party Twin
- Ellis Hall as Piano Player / Singer
- Steven Meizler as Piano Player
- Fred Datig as Co-Pilot
- Joe Garagiola as Joe Garagiola
- Kitty Carlisle as Kitty Carlisle
- Dominic Bond as Choir
- Jean-François Brousseau as Choir
- Francis Campeau as Choir
- Raphaël Cardin as Choir
- Marc-Antoine Côté as Choir
- Antoine Drolet-Dumoulin as Choir
- Léon Dussault-Gagné as Choir
- Simon Houle-Gauthier as Choir
- Vincent Généreux as Choir
- Sébastien Jean as Choir
- Pascal Larouche as Choir
- William Lauzon as Choir
- Florent Legault as Choir
- Jason McNally as Choir
- Julien Normandeau as Choir
- David Parent-Laliberté as Choir
- Alexandre Pepin as Choir
- Nicolas Radeschi as Choir
- Jonathan René as Choir
- Samuel St-Amour as Choir
- Jesse Heiman as Student (uncredited)
- Ryan Izay as Student (uncredited)
- Nick Zano as James (uncredited)
- Nicole Andrews as Hot Blonde (uncredited)
- Evis Xheneti as Beautiful Girl (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 209
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 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 to 15 | 8 | 6 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 8 |
| 21 to 25 | 2 | 5 |
| 26 to 30 | 12 | 25 |
| 31 to 35 | 1 | 16 |
| 36 to 40 | 3 | 12 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 5 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 4 |
| 51 to 55 | 1 | 7 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 8 |
| 61 to 65 | 3 | 14 |
| 66 to 70 | 5 | 11 |
| 71 to 75 | 3 | 22 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 38 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 36 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 5 |
| 91 to 95 | 7 | 19 |
| 96 to 100 | 11 | 20 |
| 101 to 105 | 1 | 5 |
| 106 to 110 | 8 | 10 |
| 111 to 115 | 17 | 16 |
| 116 to 120 | 3 | 20 |
| 121 to 125 | 3 | 8 |
| 126 to 130 | 2 | 7 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 34 |
| 136 to 140 | 12 | 14 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 11 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 3 |
| 151 to 155 | 1 | 8 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 8 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 7 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 9 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 9 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 7 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 0 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 10 |
| 191 to 195 | 5 | 6 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 33 |
| 201 to 205 | 0 | 8 |
| 206 to 209 | 1 | 33 |
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, 17 are women's.
112 lines from women, 547 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
33 women and 64 men in the cast. 15 women and 46 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 773.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 129 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 (1,747), men 83% (8,275).
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
0
Two men
45
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Written by
- Jeff Nathanson (man)
- Produced by
- Steven Spielberg (man), Walter F. Parkes (man)
- Shot by
- Janusz Kamiński (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Jeannine Oppewall (woman)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- Debra Zane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 24 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
6 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
9 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 9 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Amy Adams 28, Nathalie Baye 54
Men
Leonardo DiCaprio 28, Frank John Hughes 35, Brian Howe 44, Tom Hanks 46, Steve Eastin 54, Christopher Walken 59, Martin Sheen 62, James Brolin 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $52 million
- Box office
- $352 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 209 scenes and 773 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
