Fails the Bechdel test

Cedar Rapids

Name: Cedar Rapids
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Miguel Arteta, written by Phil Johnston.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 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 1 out of 3.

The film

Tim Lippe (Helms) was the guy people always thought would go places but then he just ... didn't. He's been living in über-sleepy Brown Valley, Wisconsin his whole life, still "pre-engaged" to his 7th grade teacher Macy Vanderhei (Weaver), while selling insurance to protect other people's dreams. But now, Tim's stalled life is about to get a kick-start because, for the first time in his 34 years, he's headed to a "major" metropolis - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - where he must try to save his company at a do-or-die insurance convention that, for him, will be entirely unconventional. From the minute he checks into his hotel with his ancient American Tourister and cummerbund money belt, it's clear Tim has no idea how the modern world really works. He is soon smitten with seductive Nebraskan insurance agent Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Heche) and awed by his experienced roommates, the straight-shooting Ronald Wilkes (Whitlock Jr.) and the suspicious Dean Zeigler (Reilly). Disheartened when he comes face-to-face with corporate corruption, Tim is ultimately lured beyond the lobby into an urban jungle he's only ever seen on DVD and when it seems his life - and chances to succeed - have gone completely topsy-turvy, he finds his own unjaded way to turn it all around.

Released: 18 Mar 2011
Genres: Comedy
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 70 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Tim 359 lines, man
Joan 104 lines, woman
Dean 103 lines, man
Ronald 67 lines, man
Orin 56 lines, man
Millie 32 lines
Bill Krogstad 31 lines, man
Bree 21 lines, woman
Wade 9 lines
Woman 7 lines, woman

Full cast, 15 people

Ed Helms as Tim Lippe
John C. Reilly as Dean Ziegler
Anne Heche as Joan Ostrowski-Fox
Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Ronald Wilkes
Stephen Root as Bill Krogstad
Kurtwood Smith as Orin Helgesson
Alia Shawkat as Bree
Thomas Lennon as Roger Lemke
Rob Corddry as Gary
Mike O'Malley as Mike Pyle
Sigourney Weaver as Macy Vanderhei
Seth Morris as Uncle Ken
Mike Birbiglia as Trent
Inga R. Wilson as Gwen Lemke
Welker White as Dione Krogstad

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 121

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	1	13
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	7
10 to 12	0	14
13 to 15	0	39
16 to 18	0	22
19 to 21	6	12
22 to 24	0	25
25 to 27	0	34
28 to 30	11	32
31 to 33	9	41
34 to 36	0	28
37 to 39	1	12
40 to 42	4	4
43 to 45	8	24
46 to 48	1	11
49 to 51	9	17
52 to 54	7	19
55 to 57	2	6
58 to 60	0	1
61 to 63	17	19
64 to 66	11	51
67 to 69	0	3
70 to 72	16	18
73 to 75	0	7
76 to 78	0	9
79 to 81	1	39
82 to 84	3	12
85 to 87	1	12
88 to 90	5	14
91 to 93	8	10
94 to 96	1	0
97 to 99	1	2
100 to 102	3	8
103 to 105	5	12
106 to 108	1	1
109 to 111	1	9
112 to 114	0	28
115 to 117	5	24
118 to 120	0	8
121 to 121	0	7

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.

138 lines from women, 654 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 10 men in the cast. 4 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 862. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 141 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 15% of the words (1,663), men 85% (9,447). Women have 17% 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

3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Miguel Arteta (man)
Written by: Phil Johnston (man)
Produced by: Alexander Payne (man), Jim Burke (man), Jim Taylor (man)
Shot by: Chuy Chávez (gender not listed)
Edited by: Eric Kissack (man)
Music by: Christophe Beck (man)
Production design by: Doug J. Meerdink (man)
Costumes by: Hope Hanafin (woman)
Cast by: Meredith Tucker (woman), Rich Mento (man), Joanna Colbert (woman)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
Production

2 women, 6 men
Costume & Make-Up

4 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
Art

1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
Directing

0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
Camera

0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
Editing

0 women, 1 men
Lighting

0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 31 on average. Men: 49 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Alia Shawkat 21, Anne Heche 41

Men

Ed Helms 37, Thomas Lennon 40, Rob Corddry 40, Mike O'Malley 44, John C. Reilly 45, Isiah Whitlock Jr. 56, Stephen Root 59, Kurtwood Smith 67

Exhibit G: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget: Not listed
Box office: $6.9 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 121 scenes and 862 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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