Fails the Bechdel test
Enemy of the State
1998. Directed by Tony Scott, written by David Marconi.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 9 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
Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a mild-mannered lawyer who works in Washington, D.C. He is on the trail of a kingpin named Paulie Pintero (Tom Sizemore). Meanwhile, a politician named Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight) is negotiating with Representative Phillip Hammersley (Jason Robards, Jr.) about a new surveillance system with satellites. But, Hammersley declines; Reynolds has Hammersley killed, but the murder is caught on tape, and the taper is chased by Reynolds' team of N.S.A. Agents. The guy must ditch the tape, so he plants it on Dean (unbeknownst to Dean). Then, the N.S.A. decides to get into Dean's life. That is when Dean's life began to fall apart all around him, with his wife and job both gone. Dean wants to find out what is going on. Then, he meets a man named "Brill" (Gene Hackman), who tells him that Dean has something that the government wants. Dean and Brill formulate a plan to get Dean's life back and turn the tables on Reynolds.
- Released
- 20 Nov 1998
- Genres
- Action, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dean 421 lines, man
- Brill 124 lines, man
- Stacy 67 lines, man
- Reynolds 59 lines, man
- Rachel 43 lines, woman
- Jerry 35 lines, man
- Hicks 31 lines, man
- Morelos 25 lines, man
- Zavitz 23 lines, man
- Eric 21 lines, man
Full cast, 100 people
- Will Smith as Robert Clayton Dean
- Gene Hackman as Brill
- Jon Voight as Reynolds
- Regina King as Carla Dean
- Loren Dean as Hicks
- Jake Busey as Krug
- Barry Pepper as Pratt
- Jason Lee as Daniel Zavitz
- Gabriel Byrne as 'Brill'
- Lisa Bonet as Rachel Banks
- Stuart Wilson as Congressman Albert
- Laura Cayouette as Christa Hawkins
- Ian Hart as Bingham
- Scott Caan as Jones
- James Le Gros as Jerry Miller
- Dan Butler as Shaffer
- Jack Black as Fiedler
- Jamie Kennedy as Jamie
- Bodhi Elfman as Van
- Jacob Chambers as Davis
- Alexandra Balahoutis as Martha
- Anna Gunn as Emily Reynolds
- Jascha Washington as Eric Dean
- Rebeca Silva as Marie the Nanny
- Bobby Boriello as Dylan
- Carl Mergenthaler as Mike (Law Firm)
- Mattias Kraemer as Gas Station Cashier
- Lillo Brancato as Young Worker
- John Capodice as Older Worker #1
- Vic Manni as Vic (Old Mobster)
- T.R. Richards as Cook
- Ivana Miličević as Ruby's Sales Clerk
- Patsy Grady Abrams as Accident Bystander
- Beatriz Mayoral as Reynold's Nanny
- Kasey Lynn Quinn as Reynold's Daughter
- Elizabeth Berman as Ruthie
- Donna W. Scott as Jenny
- Allison Sie as Hotel Desk Clerk
- Michael Andolini as Sal
- Arthur J. Nascarella as Frankie
- Grant Heslov as Lenny
- John Cenatiempo as Young Mobster #1
- Joyce Flick Wendl as Waitress
- Frank Medrano as Bartender
- Dennis S. Fahey as Cop with Ambulance
- Albert Wong as Mr. Wu
- Christopher Lawrence as Paramedic
- John Haynes Walker as Fireman #1
- Joseph Patrick Kelly as Fireman #2
- Lennox Brown as Tunnel Maintenance Worker
- Martin Bosworth as Bike Messenger
- Nancy Yee as Mrs. Wu
- Troy A. Cephers as ANA Hotel Security
- Carlos Gómez as FBI Agent
- Robert Gersicoff as FBI Agent
- Arnie Alpert as FBI Agent
- Greg Collins as FBI Supervisor
- Doug Roberts as Hijacked Car Driver
- Larry King as Larry King
- Warren Olney as TV Anchor #1
- Penny Griego as TV Anchor #2
- Eric Keung as Mambo Kitchen Worker #1
- David Han as Mambo Kitchen Worker #2
- Mandy Kriss as Reporter #1
- Noel Werking as Reporter #2
- Sam De Crispino as Reporter #3
- Wayne A. Larrivey as Doorman
- Rhonda Overby as Field Reporter #1
- Lillie Shaw Hamer as Field Reporter #2
- Brenna McDonough as Field Reporter #3
- Callison Slater as Child #1
- Colin Brodie as Child #2
- Daniel Cano as Hallway Lawyer
- Joy Ehrlich as Mom In Diner
- Eric Olson as Aide #1
- Marcus Troy as Aide #2
- Adam Karkowsky as Aide #3
- Steve Uhrig as Electronics Store Employee
- Robyn Killian as Model #1
- Laura Eizenia Wood as Model #2
- Angelica Pamintuan as Model #3
- Vené L. Arcoraci as Model #4
- Charlie Curtis as Model #5
- Raichle Watt as Becky
- Michael James Walker as Union Official
- Jackilyn Ward as Pintero's Sister
- Jason Welch as Pintero Kid #1
- Joshua Ward as Pintero Kid #2
- Pete Sutton as Dean House Cop
- Tom Quinn as Tunnel Technician
- Robert O'Rourke as FBI Observer #1
- John Allendorfer as FBI Observer #2
- Henry Sandler as FBI Observer #3
- Chris Holt as Chris Holt
- Seth Green as Selby (uncredited)
- Tom Sizemore as Paulie Pintero (uncredited)
- Brian Markinson as Brian Blake (uncredited)
- Philip Baker Hall as Mark Silverberg (uncredited)
- Jason Robards as Congressman Phillip Hammersley (uncredited)
- James Hunter as Computer Programmer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 190
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 | 0 | 12 |
| 5 to 8 | 16 | 27 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 9 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 11 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 12 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 15 | 29 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 43 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 13 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 2 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 28 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 71 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 8 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 39 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 9 |
| 65 to 68 | 4 | 67 |
| 69 to 72 | 6 | 8 |
| 73 to 76 | 1 | 22 |
| 77 to 80 | 13 | 14 |
| 81 to 84 | 12 | 6 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 31 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 60 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 7 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 19 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 44 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 28 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 5 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 19 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 47 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 31 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 18 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 44 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 17 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 3 |
| 149 to 152 | 2 | 8 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 32 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 12 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 19 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 12 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 7 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 3 |
| 181 to 184 | 3 | 9 |
| 185 to 188 | 2 | 24 |
| 189 to 190 | 0 | 27 |
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, 8 are women's.
84 lines from women, 985 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
17 women and 51 men in the cast. 9 women and 27 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 26 of 1,148.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 362 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (568), men 93% (7,827). Women have 8% 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
0
Two men
79
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tony Scott (man)
- Written by
- David Marconi (man)
- Produced by
- Jerry Bruckheimer (man)
- Shot by
- Dan Mindel (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Lebenzon (man)
- Music by
- Harry Gregson-Williams (man), Trevor Rabin (man)
- Production design by
- Benjamín Fernández (man)
- Cast by
- Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 56 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
9 women, 26 men, 16 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 12 men, 24 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 14 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 17 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Lighting
1 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Regina King 27, Lisa Bonet 31
Men
Jake Busey 27, Barry Pepper 28, Jason Lee 28, Loren Dean 29, Will Smith 30, Gabriel Byrne 48, Jon Voight 59, Gene Hackman 68
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $251 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 190 scenes and 1,148 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
