Passes the Bechdel test
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2003. Directed by George Clooney, written by Chuck Barris and Charlie Kaufman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 16 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 213. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off-screen. This is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television producer by day, C.I.A. assassin by night. At the height of his television career, Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) was recruited by the C.I.A. and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris claimed.
- Released
- 24 Jan 2003
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Barris 435 lines, man
- Penny 100 lines, woman
- Byrd 62 lines, man
- Patricia 35 lines, woman
- Loretta 19 lines, woman
- Keeler 18 lines, man
- Oliver 18 lines, man
- Actual Barris 17 lines, man
- Tuvia 16 lines, woman
- Georgia 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 77 people
- Sam Rockwell as Chuck Barris
- Drew Barrymore as Penny
- George Clooney as Jim Byrd
- Julia Roberts as Patricia Watson
- Rutger Hauer as Keeler
- Maggie Gyllenhaal as Debbie
- Robert John Burke as Instructor Jenks
- Jennifer Hall as Georgia
- Kristen Wilson as Loretta
- J. Todd Anderson as Stud Bachelor
- Carlos Carrasco as Brazioni
- Emilio Rivera as Benitez
- Daniel Zacapa as Renda
- Krista Allen as Pretty Woman
- Michael Ensign as Simon Oliver
- James Urbaniak as Rod Flexner
- Dick Clark as Self
- Michelle Sweeney as Housekeeper
- Michael Cera as Chuck (8 & 11 years)
- Aimee Rose Ambroziak as Chuck's Date #1
- Isabelle Blais as Chuck's Date #2
- Melissa Carter as Chuck's Date #3
- Ilona Elkin as Georgia's Girlfriend
- Sean Tucker as Barfly
- Jaye P. Morgan as Self
- David Julian Hirsh as Freddie Cannon
- Jerry Weintraub as Larry Goldberg
- Frank Fontaine as ABC Executive
- Rachelle Lefevre as Tuvia (25 years)
- Gene Patton as Gene Gene Patton
- Barbara Bacci as Woman in Veil
- Janet Lane as Blonde Bachelorette
- Shaun Balbar as Beanpole Bachelor
- Jeff Lefebvre as Frizzy Hair Bachelor
- Michael Filipowich as Handsome Bachelor
- Samantha Kaine as Black Bachelorette
- Christian Paul as Black Bachelor
- Jim Lange as Self
- Steve Adams as Dating Game Director
- Maria Bertrand as Stud Bachelorette
- Brad Pitt as Bachelor Brad
- Matt Damon as Bachelor Matt
- Murray Langston as Actual Unknown Comic
- Marlida Ferreira as Woman in Pub
- Jérôme Tiberghien as Englishman
- Martin Kevan as Chuck's Father
- Claudia Besso as Chuck's Mother
- Isabelle Juneau as Amana Girl
- Nathalie Morin as Bachelorette Winner
- Tony Zanca as Bachelor Winner
- Sergei Priselkov as Shaving Man
- Norman Roy as Colbert
- Marlene Fisher as Casting Executive Woman
- Richard Kind as Casting Executive Man
- Suyun Kim as Asian Folksinger #1
- Shu Lan Tuan as Asian Folksinger #2
- Andre Minicozzi as Gong Show Band
- Richard Beaudet as Gong Show Band
- Ron Di Lauro as Gong Show Band
- Peter N. Wilson as Gong Show Band
- Bruce Pepper as Gong Show Band
- Francois St-Pierre as Gong Show Band
- Bridget Powers as Little Person
- George Randolph as Gene Gene
- Pascale Devigne as Critic
- Carlo Berardinucci as Waiter
- Tanya Anthony as Prostitute
- Andy Quesnel as Gong Show Model
- Keshav Patel as Elvis Singer
- Leslie Cottle as L.A. Bar Woman
- Dino Tosques as L.A. Bartender
- Joe Cobden as Unknown Comic
- Ethan Thomas C. Dempster as Chuck (3 years)
- Tommy Hinkley as Hambone Man
- Bill Corday as Justice of the Peace
- Chuck Barris as Actual Barris
- Chelsea Ceci as Tuvia, Age 8
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 213
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 | 0 | 23 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 6 |
| 11 to 15 | 3 | 7 |
| 16 to 20 | 10 | 16 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 4 |
| 26 to 30 | 2 | 5 |
| 31 to 35 | 13 | 13 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 4 |
| 41 to 45 | 25 | 28 |
| 46 to 50 | 9 | 14 |
| 51 to 55 | 5 | 18 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 29 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 25 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 17 |
| 76 to 80 | 13 | 24 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 16 |
| 86 to 90 | 11 | 46 |
| 91 to 95 | 8 | 21 |
| 96 to 100 | 5 | 4 |
| 101 to 105 | 6 | 23 |
| 106 to 110 | 6 | 5 |
| 111 to 115 | 14 | 20 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 11 |
| 121 to 125 | 16 | 10 |
| 126 to 130 | 5 | 8 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 5 | 11 |
| 141 to 145 | 10 | 16 |
| 146 to 150 | 3 | 7 |
| 151 to 155 | 9 | 15 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 20 |
| 161 to 165 | 5 | 10 |
| 166 to 170 | 4 | 12 |
| 171 to 175 | 4 | 9 |
| 176 to 180 | 16 | 34 |
| 181 to 185 | 6 | 20 |
| 186 to 190 | 3 | 9 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 4 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 11 |
| 201 to 205 | 17 | 53 |
| 206 to 210 | 12 | 18 |
| 211 to 213 | 4 | 6 |
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.
PENNY: Who is this? PATRICIA: I do not get stood up. Do you understand?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
253 lines from women, 655 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 33 men in the cast. 16 women and 25 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 40 of 986.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 86 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 25% of the words (2,507), men 75% (7,592). Women have 28% 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
2
Two men
28
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- George Clooney (man)
- Written by
- Charlie Kaufman (man)
- From the novel by
- Chuck Barris (man)
- Produced by
- Andrew Lazar (man)
- Shot by
- Newton Thomas Sigel (man)
- Edited by
- Stephen Mirrione (man)
- Music by
- Alex Wurman (man)
- Production design by
- James D. Bissell (man)
- Costumes by
- Renée April (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 10 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 13 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Maggie Gyllenhaal 25, Jennifer Hall 25, Drew Barrymore 27, Kristen Wilson 33, Julia Roberts 35
Men
Sam Rockwell 34, George Clooney 41, Robert John Burke 42, J. Todd Anderson 43, Rutger Hauer 58
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $33 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 213 scenes and 986 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
