Passes the Bechdel test
Cellular
2004. Directed by David R. Ellis, written by Larry Cohen and Chris Morgan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 157. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
After dropping her son off at the bus stop, doting mum and high-school science teacher Jessica Martin is kidnapped at gunpoint and thrown in an unknown attic with only a nearly-unusable phone. As her world turns upside-down in an instant, the desperate mother manages to jury-rig the device and connects with the cell phone of young college student Ryan. Now Jessica's life is literally in Ryan's hands--and as the ruthless abductors threaten to kill her, Ryan has to act fast to rescue the woman on the other end of the line. However, with a dying battery, how can Ryan save Jessica when this could be her last phone call?
- Released
- 10 Sep 2004
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ryan 263 lines, man
- Jessica 162 lines, woman
- Greer 69 lines, man
- Mooney 52 lines, man
- Craig 25 lines, man
- Chloe 19 lines, woman
- Sfx 19 lines
- Greek 17 lines
- Tomlin 17 lines, man
- Ellis 16 lines, man
Full cast, 44 people
- Kim Basinger as Jessica Martin
- Chris Evans as Ryan Hewitt
- Jason Statham as Ethan
- William H. Macy as Sgt. Bob Mooney
- Noah Emmerich as Jack Tanner
- Valerie Cruz as Dana Bayback
- Richard Burgi as Craig Martin
- Eric Christian Olsen as Chad
- Jessica Biel as Chloe
- Adam Taylor Gordon as Ricky Martin
- Rick Hoffman as Lawyer
- Will Beinbrink as Young Security Guard
- Greg Collins as Aging Security Guard
- Erin Foster as Surf Girl
- Brenda Ballard as Irate Customer #1
- Paige Cannon as Girl at Concert
- Caroline Aaron as Marilyn Mooney
- Chase Ellis Bloch as Timid Boy
- Chantille Boudousque as Chloe's Chilly Friend
- Robin Brenner as Excitable Customer
- Nikki Christian as Porsche Girl
- John Churchill as Young Guard
- Esther Mercado as Rosario
- Chelsea Ellis Bloch as Surf Girl's Friend
- Marco DiMaio as Superior Officer
- Eddie Driscoll as Crewcut Officer
- Tagert Ellis as Kid in Phone Store
- John Ennis as Rent a Cop #1
- Eric Etebari as Dmitri
- Willie Gault as Detector Operator
- Noe Gonzalez as Rent a Cop #2
- Matt McColm as Deason
- Lara Romanoff as Eurotrash Girlfriend
- Al Sapienza as False Craig
- Lin Shaye as Exotic Car Driver
- Bobb'e J. Thompson as Lil Rapper
- Dean Devlin as Cab Driver (uncredited)
- Gene LeBell as Driving Instructor (uncredited)
- Brandon Osborne as School Boy (uncredited)
- Robert Shaye as Detective Looking Guy
- Peter Weireter as Sergeant (uncredited)
- RayVeness as Party Girl (uncredited)
- Xica Brewer as Beach Girl (Uncredited)
- Sherri Shepherd as Jaded Cashier
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 157
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 | 11 | 5 |
| 5 to 8 | 10 | 41 |
| 9 to 12 | 6 | 8 |
| 13 to 16 | 11 | 32 |
| 17 to 20 | 18 | 19 |
| 21 to 24 | 6 | 9 |
| 25 to 28 | 26 | 51 |
| 29 to 32 | 10 | 26 |
| 33 to 36 | 16 | 26 |
| 37 to 40 | 1 | 4 |
| 41 to 44 | 4 | 3 |
| 45 to 48 | 4 | 6 |
| 49 to 52 | 8 | 13 |
| 53 to 56 | 17 | 16 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 13 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 20 |
| 65 to 68 | 2 | 17 |
| 69 to 72 | 10 | 17 |
| 73 to 76 | 3 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 5 | 10 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 21 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 9 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 2 |
| 93 to 96 | 5 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 5 |
| 101 to 104 | 3 | 8 |
| 105 to 108 | 4 | 15 |
| 109 to 112 | 3 | 8 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 4 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 18 |
| 121 to 124 | 2 | 32 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 12 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 17 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 14 |
| 137 to 140 | 1 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 1 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 5 |
| 149 to 152 | 2 | 2 |
| 153 to 156 | 3 | 8 |
| 157 to 157 | 6 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JESSICA: Buenas dias, Rosario. ROSARIO: Good morning Miss Jessica.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
213 lines from women, 539 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 24 men in the cast. 9 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 76 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (2,329), men 68% (4,866). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
56
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David R. Ellis (man)
- Written by
- Chris Morgan (man)
- Story by
- Larry Cohen (man)
- Produced by
- Dean Devlin (man), Lauren Lloyd (woman)
- Shot by
- Gary Capo (man)
- Edited by
- Eric A. Sears (man)
- Music by
- John Ottman (man)
- Production design by
- Jaymes Hinkle (man)
- Costumes by
- Christopher Lawrence (man)
- Cast by
- Roger Mussenden (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 13 men
-
Production
2 women, 8 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 8 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jessica Biel 22, Valerie Cruz 28, Kim Basinger 50
Men
Adam Taylor Gordon 11, Chris Evans 23, Eric Christian Olsen 27, Jason Statham 37, Noah Emmerich 39, Richard Burgi 46, William H. Macy 54
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $57.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 157 scenes and 854 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
