Passes the Bechdel test
Charlie Wilson's War
2007. Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin and George Crile.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
27 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 10. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
In the early 1980s, Charlie Wilson is a womanizing US congressional representative from Texas who seemed to be in the minor leagues, except for the fact that he is a member of two major foreign policy and covert-ops committees. However, prodded by his major conservative supporter, Houston Socialite Joanne Herring, Wilson learns about the plight the people are suffering in the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. With the help of the maverick CIA agent, Gustav "Gust" Avrakotos, Wilson dedicates his canny political efforts to supply the Afghan mujahideen with the weapons and support to defeat the Soviet Union. However, Charlie Wilson eventually learns that while military victory can be had, there are other consequences and prices to that fight that are ignored to everyone's sorrow.
- Released
- 21 Dec 2007
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 24 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Charlie 488 lines, man
- Gust 173 lines, man
- Joanne 79 lines, woman
- Bonnie 77 lines, woman
- Zvi 39 lines, man
- Liddle 26 lines
- Doc 25 lines
- Donnelly 23 lines, man
- Hart 22 lines, man
- Graver 21 lines
Full cast, 105 people
- Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson
- Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos
- Amy Adams as Bonnie Bach
- Emily Blunt as Jane Liddle
- Om Puri as President Zia
- Shiri Appleby as Jailbait - Charlie's Angels
- Rachel Nichols as Suzanne - Charlie's Angels
- Wynn Everett as Receptionist - Charlie's Angel
- Jud Tylor as Crystal Lee
- John Slattery as Cravely
- Erick Avari as Avi Perlman
- Cyia Batten as Stacey
- Denis O'Hare as Harold Holt
- Ned Beatty as Doc Long
- Ken Stott as Zvi
- Daniel Eric Gold as Donnelly
- Harry S. Murphy as Congressional Committee
- Enayat Delawary as Doc Long's Translator
- Peter Gerety as Larry Liddle
- Navid Negahban as Refugee Camp Translator
- P.J. Byrne as Jim Van Wagenen
- Mozhan Navabi as Refugee Camp Translator #2
- Michael Spellman as Agent Patrick
- Russell Edge as Agent Wells
- Christopher Denham as Mike Vickers
- Ron Fassler as Mario
- Nazanin Boniadi as Afghan Refugee Woman (uncredited)
- Rizwan Manji as Colonel Mahmood
- Tracy Phillips as Belly dancer
- Ali Olomi as Injured Mujahadeen Soldier (uncredited)
- Mary-Bonner Baker as Marla - Charlie's Angels
- Hilary Angelo as Kelly
- Terry Bozeman as CIA Award Presenter
- Brian Markinson as Paul Brown
- Kirby Mitchell as Stoned Guy
- Ed Regine as Limo Driver
- Thomas Crawford as Maintenance Man
- Joe Roland as McGaffin
- Patrika Darbo as Auctioneer
- Carly Reeves as Slave Girl
- Salaheddine Ben Chegra as Pakistani Steward
- Faran Tahir as Brigadier Rashid
- Maurice Sherbanee as Refugee In Wheelchair
- Salam Sangi as Refugee Building Wall
- Michael Saba as Afghan Boy
- Nadia Miller as Afghan Girl
- Michelle Arthur as Refugee Camp Nurse
- Shila Ommi as Refugee Mother
- Edward Hunt as Embassy Marine
- Michael Haley as Embassy Official
- Joseph Sikora as Chess Player
- Gabriel Tigerman as Chess Player
- Patrick Bentley as Chess Player
- Marc Pelina as Chess Player
- Aharon Ipalé as Egyptian Defense Minister
- Mary Bailey as Doc Long's Secretary
- Trish Gallaher Glenn as Joanne's Assistant
- Nancy Linehan Charles as Mrs. Long
- Dastan Khalili as Mujahideen Translator
- Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Russian Helicopter Pilot
- Ilia Volok as Russian Helicopter Pilot
- Alex Lvovsky as Russian Helicopter Pilot
- Sammy Sheik as Stinger Mujahideen
- Moneer Yaqubi as Stinger Mujahideen
- Gabriel Justice as Stinger Mujahideen
- Siyal Mohammad as Stinger Presenter
- Quill Roberts as Stinger Presenter
- Jim Jansen as Congressional Committee
- Spencer Garrett as Congressional Committee
- Kevin Cooney as Congressional Committee
- Erick Avari as Ari Goldman (uncredited)
- Yousuf Azami as Work Relief Guy (uncredited)
- Anthony Azizi as Orderly (uncredited)
- Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Las Vegas Showgirl / Charlie's Party Guest (uncredited)
- Darren Dowler as Congressman (uncredited)
- François Duhamel as French Photographer (uncredited)
- David M. Edelstien as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
- Matthew Herington as Afghan Refugee (uncredited)
- Mueen Jahan Ahmad as Bodyguard (uncredited)
- Jody Jaress as VIP Party Guest (uncredited)
- Alexander Kanellakos as Texas Millionaire (uncredited)
- Igor Korošec as USSR Gunner 2 (uncredited)
- Richard Lawrence as Senators Aide (uncredited)
- Daniel Lench as Party Goer #1 (uncredited)
- Tucker Maloney as CIA Operative (uncredited)
- J. Patrick McCormack as Senator (uncredited)
- Ambria Miscia as Vegas Showgirl (uncredited)
- Kazu Nagahama as Japanese Tourist (uncredited)
- Mara New as Extra (uncredited)
- Tom Ohmer as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Ron Ostrow as Congressional Committee #5 (uncredited)
- J. Woodward Palmer as Bartender (uncredited)
- Mary Linda Phillips as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Dan Rather as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Gubbi Sigurdsson as Doc Long's Aide (uncredited)
- Cynthia Silver as Charlie's Party Guest (uncredited)
- Cassidy Smith as Afghan Girl (uncredited)
- Nicole Smolen as Afghan Girl (uncredited)
- Leo Solomon as Freedom Fighter (uncredited)
- Rachel Style as Blodgett - CIA Cafeteria Cashier (uncredited)
- Jackie Swanson as Texas Socialite (uncredited)
- Shaun Toub as Hassan (uncredited)
- Kyle Vogt as Male Party Guest #4 (uncredited)
- Kurt Yaeger as Afghani Refugee (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 10
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 1 | 8 | 62 |
| 2 to 2 | 51 | 149 |
| 3 to 3 | 56 | 72 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 29 |
| 5 to 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 to 6 | 35 | 392 |
| 7 to 7 | 54 | 92 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 10 |
| 9 to 9 | 6 | 26 |
| 10 to 10 | 14 | 55 |
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.
JOANNE: Then I'm considerably more important than whoever is. JANE: Who's that?
JOANNE: "Doubl.e it." JANE: I was told you didn't have a girlfriend.
JOANNE: (at a microphone} Would everyone take their seats, please. BONNIE: Say, Miss Harrison?
BONNIE: 'Cause you're a Duke MBA • JOANNE: I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting.
BONNIE: I don't know, I was-- SUZANNE: Joanne Herring on the phone.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
225 lines from women, 888 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
27 women and 54 men in the cast. 11 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 56 of 1,333.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 143 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (2,101), men 82% (9,750). Women have 20% 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
13
Two men
53
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mike Nichols (man)
- Written by
- Aaron Sorkin (man)
- Produced by
- Tom Hanks (man), Gary Goetzman (man)
- Shot by
- Stephen Goldblatt (man)
- Edited by
- John Bloom (man), Antonia Van Drimmelen (woman)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Victor Kempster (man)
- Costumes by
- Albert Wolsky (man)
- Cast by
- Ellen Lewis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
7 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 6 men
-
Other crew
2 women, 3 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emily Blunt 24, Rachel Nichols 27, Jud Tylor 28, Shiri Appleby 29, Wynn Everett 29, Amy Adams 33, Julia Roberts 40
Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman 40, Tom Hanks 51, Om Puri 57
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $75 million
- Box office
- $119 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 10 scenes and 1,333 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
