Fails the Bechdel test
Fred Claus
2007. Directed by David Dobkin, written by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
During childhood, Fred Claus suffered his younger brother Nick's saintliness. Jump ahead: Fred is a fast-talking, genial but self-centered guy in Chicago looking for $50,000 to open an off-track-betting shop. When one scam goes awry, he calls Nick at the North Pole for a loan: Nick will give him the money only if Fred comes up to help a few days with the Christmas rush. After his girlfriend dumps him, Fred heads north. Santa's facing an audit from an efficiency expert, and it's not pleasant. Fred's job is to review charts and determine who's naughty and who's nice. Is there any fraternal feeling left, can either learn from the other, and what about Santa getting fired?
- Released
- 09 Nov 2007
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 5.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 42 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Fred 243 lines, man
- Santa Claus 139 lines, man
- Willy 62 lines, man
- Clyde 46 lines, man
- Mother Claus 42 lines, woman
- Mrs. Claus 38 lines, woman
- Wanda 33 lines, woman
- Slam 19 lines, man
- Narrator 16 lines
- Bob 14 lines, man
Full cast, 130 people
- Vince Vaughn as Fred Claus
- Paul Giamatti as Nick (Santa) Claus
- John Michael Higgins as Willie
- Miranda Richardson as Annette Claus
- Rachel Weisz as Wanda Blinkowski
- Kathy Bates as Mother Claus
- Trevor Peacock as Papa Claus
- Ludacris as DJ Donnie
- Elizabeth Banks as Charlene
- Jeremy Swift as Bob Elf
- Elizabeth Berrington as Linda Elf
- Kevin Spacey as Clyde Archibald Northcutt
- Rio Hackford as Leon
- Bobb'e J. Thompson as Samuel 'Slam' Gibbons
- Allan Corduner as Dr. Goldfarb
- Jordon Hull as Young Fred - 6 Yrs Old
- Liam James as Young Fred - 12 Yrs Old
- Theo Stevenson as Young Nick - 6 Yrs Old
- Allison Sparrow as Girl with Plasma TV
- Fred Zimmerman as Caroler
- Danny McCarthy as Salvation Army Santa
- Keith Kupferer as Salvation Army Santa
- Craig J. Harris as Jermaine Santa
- Peter McCabe as Scary Thug
- Jonathan Cullen as Guard
- Wesley Chu as Bonsai Chef
- Claudia Michelle Wallace as Child Services Agent
- Guy Massey as Child Services Agent
- Gabriel Pimentel as Head Secret Service Elf
- Hassan Chikhaoui as Secret Service Elf
- Vitalie Babara as Secret Service Elf
- Morgane Monjauze as Molly Gordon
- Justin Butler as Timmy Jackson
- Angela Curran as Old Woman Elf
- Celia Henebury as Girl Elf
- Justin McEwen as Orphanage Kid
- Tyler Kelley as Orphanage Kid
- Dylan Minnette as Orphanage Kid
- Anne White as Midwife
- Patrick Zielinski as Cab Driver
- William Dick as Group Leader
- Frank Stallone Jr. as Frank Stallone
- Roger Clinton Jr. as Roger Clinton
- Stephen Baldwin as Stephen Baldwin
- Jean-Yves Tual as Mission Control Elf
- Jorge Rodero as Willie's Movements
- Michael Mbhele as DJ Donnie's Movements
- Burn Gorman as Elf
- Orlando Seale as Elf
- Charlie Condou as Elf
- Melody Hollis as Timmy Jackson's Sister
- Mike Bacarella as Wanda's Neighbor
- Bert Matias as Eskimo
- Rusty Goffe as Elf / Frosty the Barman
- Peter Bonner as Bonner Elf
- Tamara Aranovskaya as Elf
- Natalia Avraimova as Elf
- Irina Cheplyshkina as Elf
- Shamil Galeev as Elf
- Afiya Izmailova as Elf
- Anton Khardarkevich as Elf
- Zinaida Khardarkevich as Elf
- Viktor Kharur as Elf
- Zinaida Kharuk as Elf
- Tatyana Kutaleva as Elf
- Tatiana Lakhmytkina as Elf
- Valentina Lipen as Elf
- Vano Miranyan as Elf
- Nadezda Miranova as Elf
- Tatyana Moskalenko as Elf
- Andriy Nagiyen as Elf
- Firaya Nutfullina as Elf
- Alexander Pavlov as Elf
- Tatiana Pavlova as Elf
- Antanina Satsura as Elf
- Nadiia Shchava as Elf
- Svetlana Shishkevich as Elf
- Galina Shurygina as Elf
- Irina Skripnichenko as Elf
- Nina Sorokoletova as Elf
- Victor Sovpenets as Elf
- Veronika Starostina as Elf
- Inna Sushkova as Elf
- Mykola Yevdokymov as Elf
- Aleksey Zalatin as Elf
- Don Goodman as Money Donor
- Ramona Giambalvo as Money Donor
- Christ Kopoulos as Money Donor
- Jeannette Francis as Money Donor
- Patrick Morris as Money Donor
- Douglas Colber as Singer
- Debra Congram as Singer
- Deanna Edgerson as Singer
- Robert H. Frenier as Singer
- Johanna K. Hauki as Singer
- Beth Kondrat as Singer
- Erich K. Kurschat as Singer
- Anthony D. Potempa as Singer
- Paul E. Reineck as Singer
- Julie Simms as Singer
- Tracy M. Snell as Sla'ms Adoptive Mother
- Antinko Zanjelo Waddell as Sla'ms Adoptive Father
- Kiara Allyce Greene as Sla'ms Adoptive Sister
- Ethan Cutkosky as Carl (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Older Man Getting Parking Ticket (uncredited)
- Jason Abustan as Upscale Shopper (uncredited)
- Tommy Bartlett as Upscale Shopper (uncredited)
- Suzy Brack as Shopper (uncredited)
- Megan Renee Burgess as Shopper (uncredited)
- Leo McHugh Carroll as Giggling Boy (uncredited)
- Evyenia Constantine as Shopper (uncredited)
- Michael Cook as Upscale Shopper (uncredited)
- Rock De Augustine as Upscale Michigan Avenue Shopper (uncredited)
- Jay Disney as Businessman (uncredited)
- Nick Doetsch as Celebrity Sibling (uncredited)
- Ian Houghton as Clyde Northcutt (uncredited)
- Thomas Kosik as Christmas Shopper (uncredited)
- Tim Krueger as Christmas Shopper (uncredited)
- Rob Lok as Knife Juggler (uncredited)
- Chad Meyer as Chicagoan (uncredited)
- Isabella Murad as Kid in Toy Store (uncredited)
- William Nero Jr. as Child in Line (uncredited)
- Ernest Pierce as Stockbroker (uncredited)
- Kevin Pitcairn as Navy Officer (uncredited)
- Christopher Popio as Cab Driver (uncredited)
- Amit Shah as Starbucks Customer (uncredited)
- Michelle Shields as Mall Shopper (uncredited)
- Ashland Thomas as Pizza Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Giota Trakas as Upscale Shopper (uncredited)
- Joshua Zumhagen as Shopper (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 88
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 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 to 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 to 8 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 to 10 | 8 | 9 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 35 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 6 |
| 19 to 20 | 17 | 47 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 15 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 26 | 6 | 29 |
| 27 to 28 | 1 | 9 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 to 32 | 7 | 16 |
| 33 to 34 | 8 | 36 |
| 35 to 36 | 5 | 26 |
| 37 to 38 | 18 | 15 |
| 39 to 40 | 1 | 11 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 17 |
| 49 to 50 | 3 | 21 |
| 51 to 52 | 4 | 11 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 1 |
| 55 to 56 | 5 | 19 |
| 57 to 58 | 20 | 41 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 15 |
| 61 to 62 | 2 | 11 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 18 |
| 65 to 66 | 1 | 11 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 14 |
| 69 to 70 | 8 | 28 |
| 71 to 72 | 10 | 21 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 7 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 15 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 38 |
| 79 to 80 | 4 | 10 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 1 |
| 83 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 86 | 0 | 0 |
| 87 to 88 | 3 | 9 |
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, 19 are women's.
145 lines from women, 602 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 43 men in the cast. 5 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 810.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 67 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 (1,731), men 82% (7,786). Women have 19% 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
4
Two men
68
Exhibit E: behind the camera
7 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 36% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Dobkin (man)
- Written by
- Dan Fogelman (man)
- Story by
- Dan Fogelman (man), Jessie Nelson (woman)
- Produced by
- Joel Silver (man), Jessie Nelson (woman), David Dobkin (man)
- Shot by
- Remi Adefarasin (man)
- Edited by
- Mark Livolsi (man)
- Music by
- Christophe Beck (man)
- Production design by
- Allan Cameron (man)
- Costumes by
- Anna B. Sheppard (woman)
- Cast by
- Lisa Beach (woman), Jina Jay (woman), Sarah Katzman (woman), Natalya Krimenskaya (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 13 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
6 women, 10 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Banks 33, Rachel Weisz 37, Miranda Richardson 49, Kathy Bates 59
Men
Ludacris 30, Vince Vaughn 37, Paul Giamatti 40, John Michael Higgins 44, Jeremy Swift 47, Trevor Peacock 76
Exhibit G: the money
It made 98% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $100 million
- Box office
- $97.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 88 scenes and 810 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
