Passes the Bechdel test
Fair Game
2010. Directed by Doug Liman, written by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth and Joseph Wilson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 17 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 145. -
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
Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
- Released
- 03 Dec 2010
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Valerie 218 lines, woman
- Joe 90 lines, man
- Joe Wilson 65 lines, man
- Mike 26 lines
- Sawsan 26 lines, woman
- Bill 25 lines, man
- Libby 21 lines, man
- Sa'Ad 18 lines
- Paul 16 lines, man
- Pavitt 14 lines, man
Full cast, 74 people
- Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame
- Sean Penn as Joseph Wilson
- Sam Shepard as Sam Plame
- Noah Emmerich as Bill
- Michael Kelly as Jack
- Bruce McGill as Jim Pavitt
- David Andrews as Scooter Libby
- Tim Griffin as Paul
- Liraz Charhi as Dr. Zahraa
- Khaled El Nabawy as Hammad
- Sonya Davison as Chanel Suit
- Vanessa Chong as Tabir Secretary #1
- Anand Tiwari as Hafiz
- Stephanie Chai as Tabir Secretary #2
- Ty Burrell as Fred
- Jessica Hecht as Sue
- Norbert Leo Butz as Steve
- Rebecca Rigg as Lisa
- Brooke Smith as Diana
- Tom McCarthy as Jeff
- Ashley Gerasimovich as Samantha Wilson
- Quinn Broggy as Trevor Wilson
- Nicholas Sadler as CIA Tour Leader
- Iris Bahr as CPD Agent
- Ghazil as Minister of Mines - Niger
- Kristoffer Ryan Winters as Joe Turner
- Louis Ozawa as Nervous Analyst #1
- Sean Mahon as CIA Analyst #1
- Mohamed Abdel Fatah as Professor Badawi
- Rashmi Rao as Kim
- David Denman as Nervous Dave
- Remy Auberjonois as Nervous Analyst #2
- Sunil Malhotra as Ali
- Kevin Makely as Jordan Officer #1
- Mousa Al Satari as Mukhabarat Officer
- Rafat Basel as Hammad's Son
- Maysa Abdel Sattar as Hammad's Wife
- Judith Resnik as B.U. Professor
- Ben Mac Brown as B.U. Student #1
- Satya Bhabha as B.U. Student #2
- Nabil Koni as Iraqi Scientist #1
- Mohammad Al Sawalqa as Iraqi Scientist #2
- Jenny Maguire as Beth
- David Warshofsky as Pete
- Geoffrey Cantor as Ari Fleischer
- David Ilku as Journalist #1
- Deidre Goodwin as Journalist #2
- Donna Placido as Journalist #3
- Adam LeFevre as Karl Rove
- Brian McCormack as Steven Hadley
- James Rutledge as Andrew Card
- Tricia Munford as Cathie Martin
- Michael Goodwin as David Addington
- Nassar as Mr. Tabir
- Chet Grissom as Dir. of CIA Operations
- James Joseph O'Neil as Internal Security Officer
- Danni Lang as Supporter #1
- Jane Lee as Supporter #2
- James Moye as Field Reporter #1
- Judy Maier as Field Reporter #2
- Polly Holliday as Diane Plame
- Kola Ogundiran as Businessman #1
- Byron Utley as Businessman #2
- Anastasia Barzee as Right Wing Reporter
- Sanousi Sesay as DC Cab Driver
- Angela Lewis as Barista (uncredited)
- Michelle E. Mancini as Deceased Soldier's Daughter (uncredited)
- Rebekah Paltrow Neumann as UN Diplomat (uncredited)
- Barbara Grace Romano as Iraqi Server (uncredited)
- Satu Runa as Four Seasons Waitress (uncredited)
- Kaipo Schwab as Warehouse Supervisor (uncredited)
- Harry L. Seddon as Head Paparazzo (uncredited)
- Kent Sladyk as Turkish Diplomat (uncredited)
- Bill Walters as Vietnam Vet at Rally (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 23% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 145
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 | 9 | 7 |
| 5 to 8 | 13 | 7 |
| 9 to 12 | 30 | 28 |
| 13 to 16 | 5 | 2 |
| 17 to 20 | 14 | 9 |
| 21 to 24 | 10 | 11 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 to 32 | 12 | 23 |
| 33 to 36 | 7 | 11 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 12 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 2 | 36 |
| 49 to 52 | 7 | 5 |
| 53 to 56 | 18 | 1 |
| 57 to 60 | 2 | 1 |
| 61 to 64 | 13 | 21 |
| 65 to 68 | 9 | 1 |
| 69 to 72 | 2 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 9 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 9 |
| 81 to 84 | 7 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 4 | 24 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 5 |
| 93 to 96 | 3 | 10 |
| 97 to 100 | 4 | 8 |
| 101 to 104 | 17 | 17 |
| 105 to 108 | 18 | 6 |
| 109 to 112 | 15 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 10 | 9 |
| 117 to 120 | 17 | 25 |
| 121 to 124 | 4 | 2 |
| 125 to 128 | 4 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 11 | 33 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 6 | 13 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
| 145 to 145 | 2 | 0 |
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.
VALERIE: Too dangerous. This network has avoided detection for years. Expect meticulous operational security and counter surveillance. Any questions? DEPUTY CPD: Val. The chief wants to see you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
291 lines from women, 347 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 36 men in the cast. 17 women and 29 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 827.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 41 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 42% of the words (3,990), men 58% (5,464). Women have 46% 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
14
Two men
25
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Doug Liman (man)
- Written by
- John-Henry Butterworth (man), Jez Butterworth (man)
- Produced by
- Doug Liman (man), Bill Pohlad (man), Janet Zucker (woman), Jez Butterworth (man), Jerry Zucker (man), Akiva Goldsman (man)
- Shot by
- Doug Liman (man)
- Edited by
- Christopher Tellefsen (man)
- Music by
- John Powell (man)
- Production design by
- Jess Gonchor (man)
- Costumes by
- Cindy Evans (woman)
- Cast by
- Joseph Middleton (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 12 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men
-
Writing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Liraz Charhi 31, Naomi Watts 41
Men
Michael Kelly 40, Tim Griffin 41, Khaled El Nabawy 43, Noah Emmerich 45, Sean Penn 49, David Andrews 57, Bruce McGill 59, Sam Shepard 66
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $22 million
- Box office
- $25.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 145 scenes and 827 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
