Passes the Bechdel test
Go
1999. Directed by Doug Liman, written by John August.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 181. -
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
Told from three perspectives, a story of a bunch of young Californians trying to get some cash, do and deal some drugs, score money and sex in Las Vegas, and generally experience the rush of life.
- Released
- 09 Apr 1999
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 74 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ronna 131 lines, woman
- Zack 105 lines, man
- Simon 81 lines, man
- Adam 78 lines, man
- Claire 73 lines, woman
- Marcus 72 lines, man
- Burke 66 lines, man
- Gaines 55 lines, man
- Mannie 34 lines, man
- Tiny 34 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
- Sarah Polley as Ronna Martin
- Timothy Olyphant as Todd Gaines
- Katie Holmes as Claire Montgomery
- Desmond Askew as Simon Baines
- Jay Mohr as Zack
- Scott Wolf as Adam
- Taye Diggs as Marcus
- William Fichtner as Burke
- Nathan Bexton as Mannie
- Breckin Meyer as Tiny
- James Duval as Singh
- J.E. Freeman as Victor Sr.
- Jimmy Shubert as Victor Jr.
- Jane Krakowski as Irene
- Melissa McCarthy as Sandra
- Robert Peters as Switterman
- Suzanne Krull as Stringy Haired Woman
- Jay Paulson as Loop
- Katharine Towne as Becky
- Nikki Fritz as Noelle
- Tane McClure as Holly
- Courtland Mead as Boy
- Josh Paddock as Spider Marine
- Manu Intiraymi as Skate Punk Guy
- Natasha Melnick as Anorexic Girl
- Rita Maye Bland as Dancing Register Woman
- Jodi Bianca Wise as Ballerina Girl
- Tony Denman as Track Suit Guy
- Marisa Johnston as Rebecca
- Willie Amakye as Waiter
- Scott Hass as Raver Dude
- Ken Kupstis as Sports Car Man
- Shann Christen as Jimmy
- Sean Everett as Shooting Bartender (uncredited)
- Walter Ludwig as Strip Club Patron (uncredited)
- Bob Pepper as BlackJack & Slot Player (uncredited)
- Dana Schick as Girl in Line (uncredited)
- J. Karen Thomas as Nurse (uncredited)
- D. Danny Warhol as Mary X-Mas Supa Fest Dancer (uncredited)
- AlgeRita Wynn as Shopper (uncredited)
- Monique Yates Jr. as Yellow Jacket (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 181
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 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 18 | 12 |
| 9 to 12 | 39 | 28 |
| 13 to 16 | 18 | 19 |
| 17 to 20 | 17 | 22 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 6 | 3 |
| 29 to 32 | 10 | 7 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 13 | 18 |
| 41 to 44 | 6 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 10 | 4 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 3 |
| 53 to 56 | 12 | 6 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 9 |
| 61 to 64 | 2 | 63 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 10 |
| 69 to 72 | 5 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 9 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 34 |
| 81 to 84 | 5 | 27 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 5 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 6 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 7 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 5 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 5 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 8 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 0 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 6 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 29 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 27 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 12 |
| 137 to 140 | 1 | 32 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 20 |
| 145 to 148 | 9 | 37 |
| 149 to 152 | 7 | 14 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 14 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 7 |
| 161 to 164 | 17 | 46 |
| 165 to 168 | 4 | 16 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 173 to 176 | 14 | 0 |
| 177 to 180 | 13 | 8 |
| 181 to 181 | 0 | 4 |
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.
RONNA: Paper or plastic? RONNA: Paper or plastic? RONNA: Paper or plastic? STRINGY HAIRED WOMAN: Both.
RONNA: Loser goes up. Steve McQueen. CLAIRE: M...M... CLAIRE: Michael Landon.
RONNA: Burt Lancaster. Can you drive? CLAIRE: L...L...
RONNA: Lee Marvin. CLAIRE: M...M...
CLAIRE: Okay, I challenge. Give me one dead celebrity that starts with X. RONNA: This is bullshit. I am not working the fucking register. RONNA: X...X...There is one. I know I thought of one before.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.
245 lines from women, 603 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 21 men in the cast. 10 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 871.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 72 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 28% of the words (1,954), men 72% (5,006). Women have 29% 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
18
Two men
62
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Doug Liman (man)
- Written by
- John August (man)
- Produced by
- Mickey Liddell (man), Paul Rosenberg (man), Matt Freeman (man)
- Shot by
- Doug Liman (man)
- Edited by
- Stephen Mirrione (man)
- Music by
- BT (man)
- Production design by
- Thomas P. Wilkins (man)
- Costumes by
- Genevieve Tyrrell (woman)
- Cast by
- Joseph Middleton (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 16 men, 26 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 14 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 9 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 5 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 12 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 20 on average. Men: 29 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sarah Polley 20, Katie Holmes 20
Men
Nathan Bexton 22, Breckin Meyer 24, Desmond Askew 26, Jay Mohr 28, Taye Diggs 28, Timothy Olyphant 30, Scott Wolf 30, William Fichtner 42
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6.5 million
- Box office
- $28.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 871 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
