Fails the Bechdel test
Groundhog Day
1993. Directed by Harold Ramis, written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 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 2 out of 3.
The film
A weather man is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day, he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing every day.
- Released
- 12 Feb 1993
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 BAFTA Award. 7 wins & 17 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Phil 434 lines, man
- Rita 230 lines, woman
- Larry 25 lines, man
- Nancy 24 lines, woman
- Ned 24 lines, man
- Mrs. Lancaster 19 lines, woman
- Deejay 16 lines
- Hawley 11 lines, man
- Ralph 11 lines, man
- Sidekick 11 lines
Full cast, 50 people
- Bill Murray as Phil
- Andie MacDowell as Rita
- Chris Elliott as Larry
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Buster
- Marita Geraghty as Nancy
- Angela Paton as Mrs. Lancaster
- Rick Ducommun as Gus
- Rick Overton as Ralph
- Robin Duke as Doris the Waitress
- Carol Bivins as Anchorwoman
- Willie Garson as Phil's Assistant Kenny
- Ken Hudson Campbell as Man in Hallway
- Les Podewell as Old Man
- Rod Sell as Groundhog Official
- Tom Milanovich as State Trooper
- John M. Watson Sr. as Bartender
- Peggy Roeder as Piano Teacher
- Harold Ramis as Neurologist
- David Pasquesi as Psychiatrist
- Lee Sellars as Cop
- Chet Dubowski as Bank Guard Felix
- C.O. Erickson as Bank Guard Herman
- Sandy Maschmeyer as Phil's Movie Date
- Leighanne O'Neil as Fan on Street
- Evangeline Binkley as Jeopardy! Viewer
- Samuel Mages as Jeopardy! Viewer
- Ben Zwick as Jeopardy! Viewer
- Hynden Walch as Debbie
- Michael Shannon as Fred
- Timothy Hendrickson as Waiter Bill
- Martha Webster as Waitress Alice
- Angela Gollan as Piano Student
- Shaun Chaiyabhat as Boy in Tree
- Dianne B. Shaw as E.R. Nurse
- Barbara Ann Grimes as Flat Tire Lady
- Ann Heekin as Flat Tire Lady
- Lucina Paquet as Flat Tire Lady
- Brenda Pickleman as Buster's Wife
- Amy Murdoch as Buster's Daughter
- Eric Saiet as Buster's Son
- Lindsay Albert as Woman with Cigarette
- Roger Adler as Guitar Player
- Ben A. Fish as Bass Player
- Don Riozz McNichols as Drum Player
- Brian Willig as Saxophone Player
- Richard Henzel as D.J. (voice)
- Rob Riley as D.J. (voice)
- Tony DeGuide as Reporter (uncredited)
- Reni Santoni as State Trooper (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 152
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 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 to 12 | 15 | 33 |
| 13 to 16 | 9 | 11 |
| 17 to 20 | 4 | 26 |
| 21 to 24 | 13 | 23 |
| 25 to 28 | 4 | 12 |
| 29 to 32 | 7 | 18 |
| 33 to 36 | 17 | 39 |
| 37 to 40 | 1 | 1 |
| 41 to 44 | 15 | 18 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 15 |
| 49 to 52 | 3 | 14 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 8 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 16 |
| 61 to 64 | 27 | 32 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 16 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 76 | 17 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 17 | 23 |
| 81 to 84 | 15 | 13 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 2 |
| 89 to 92 | 2 | 11 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 13 |
| 97 to 100 | 3 | 4 |
| 101 to 104 | 1 | 3 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 2 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 2 |
| 113 to 116 | 26 | 36 |
| 117 to 120 | 24 | 34 |
| 121 to 124 | 20 | 26 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 7 |
| 129 to 132 | 6 | 11 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 7 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 18 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 3 |
| 149 to 152 | 27 | 46 |
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, 34 are women's.
298 lines from women, 580 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 22 men in the cast. 5 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 23 of 982.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 38 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (3,276), men 74% (9,260). Women have 34% 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
1
Two men
30
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Harold Ramis (man)
- Written by
- Danny Rubin (man), Harold Ramis (man)
- Story by
- Danny Rubin (man)
- Produced by
- Trevor Albert (man), Harold Ramis (man)
- Shot by
- John Bailey (man)
- Edited by
- Pembroke J. Herring (man)
- Music by
- George Fenton (man)
- Production design by
- David Nichols (man)
- Costumes by
- Jennifer Butler (woman)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Marita Geraghty 27, Andie MacDowell 34, Robin Duke 38, Angela Paton 63
Men
Chris Elliott 32, Rick Overton 38, Rick Ducommun 40, Stephen Tobolowsky 41, Bill Murray 42, Brian Doyle-Murray 47
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $14.6 million
- Box office
- $71.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 152 scenes and 982 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
