Fails the Bechdel test
Hancock
2008. Directed by Peter Berg, written by Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
The powerful superhero John Hancock has become a joke because of his alcoholism and clumsiness. He has also become the most hated man in Los Angeles. Though he has saved many lives, he also destroyed a lot of property, costing the city millions every time he goes into action. When he saves the life of PR expert Ray Embrey from an oncoming train, the executive is thankful and believes he can restore Hancock's image as a true superhero. He brings the anti-hero home for dinner and introduces him to his son Aaron, a big fan, and to his wife, Mary. But for some mysterious reason Mary doesn't want Hancock anywhere near her or her family.
- Released
- 02 Jul 2008
- Genres
- Action, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mary 160 lines, woman
- Hancock 128 lines, man
- Horus 100 lines, man
- Aaron 94 lines, man
- Roheim 43 lines, man
- Tom 26 lines, man
- Clyde 16 lines, man
- Ted 15 lines, man
- Adams 12 lines
- Scarpo 12 lines, man
Full cast, 72 people
- Will Smith as John Hancock
- Charlize Theron as Mary
- Jason Bateman as Ray
- Jae Head as Aaron
- Eddie Marsan as Red
- David Mattey as Man Mountain
- Maetrix Fitten as Matrix
- Thomas Lennon as Mike
- Johnny Galecki as Jeremy
- Hayley Marie Norman as Hottie
- Dorothy Cecchi as Woman in Dive Bar
- Michelle Lemon as Girl at Bus Bench
- Akiva Goldsman as Executive
- Michael Mann as Executive
- Brad Leland as Executive
- Trieu Tran as Executive
- Darrell Foster as Police Sergeant
- Liz Wicker as Female Cop
- Taylor Gilbert as Female Hostage
- Caroll Tohme as Clapping Guy
- Barbara Ali as Woman Under Ray's Car
- Ryan Radis as Rail Crossing Crowd
- Elizabeth Dennehy as Rail Crossing Crowd
- Darren Dowler as Rail Crossing Crowd
- John Frazier as Train Engineer
- Daeg Faerch as Michel
- Matthew King as Neighborhood Kid
- Martin Magdaleno as Neighborhood Kid
- Ronald W. Howard as Man on Street
- Gregg Daniel as Police Chief
- Nancy Grace as Nancy Grace
- Atticus Shaffer as Boy at Bus Bench
- Aaron Henderson as Ice Cream Truck Patron
- Huy Nguyen as Ice Cream Truck Patron
- Mary-Jessica Pitts as Ice Cream Truck Patron
- Kalee StClair as Ice Cream Truck Patron
- Donald Gibb as Convict
- Ralph Richeson as Convict
- Allan Havey as Convict
- Timothy Brennen as Convict
- Anthony Ledesma as Convict
- Steven Pierce as Convict
- Dominic Prampin as Convict
- Diamond Dan Quinn as Convict
- Mars Crain as Convict
- Jack Axelrod as Convict
- Eddie J. Fernandez as Convict
- Martin Klebba as Convict
- Richard W. Gallegos as Angry Man
- Marc C. Geschwind as Angry Man
- Rob Maron as Angry Man
- Aisha Schliessler as Sunglass Woman
- Pritam Singh Biring as Sikh
- Cher Calvin as Reporter
- Bill McMullen as Valet
- Brandon Ford Green as Radio Caller (voice) (uncredited)
- Peter Berg as Doctor Who Helps Mary (uncredited)
- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin as Reporter (uncredited)
- Samantha Cannon as Hospital Doctor #2 (uncredited)
- Rico Devereaux as Inmate (uncredited)
- Alexa Havins as Fan (uncredited)
- Edward M. Kelahan as Theatre Guest (uncredited)
- AlgeRita Wynn as Mug Shot Officer (uncredited)
- Rick Mali as Correction Officer (uncredited)
- Chris Mitchell as Chain Gang Guard (uncredited)
- Scott Michael Morgan as KCOT Reporter (uncredited)
- Bryan Keith Ponton as Hospital Doctor #1 (uncredited)
- Dawn Ressy as Theater Goer (uncredited)
- Nicholas Rich as Los Angeles City Fire Paramedic (uncredited)
- Mark Simich as Matt (uncredited)
- Kate Clarke as ER Nurse (uncredited)
- Matthew King as Neighborhood Kid
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 185
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 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 10 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 14 |
| 21 to 24 | 9 | 12 |
| 25 to 28 | 2 | 6 |
| 29 to 32 | 5 | 5 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 6 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 18 |
| 45 to 48 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 7 |
| 53 to 56 | 7 | 17 |
| 57 to 60 | 2 | 4 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 1 |
| 69 to 72 | 1 | 23 |
| 73 to 76 | 9 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 10 | 24 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 9 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 11 |
| 93 to 96 | 21 | 19 |
| 97 to 100 | 9 | 18 |
| 101 to 104 | 10 | 15 |
| 105 to 108 | 15 | 16 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 17 |
| 113 to 116 | 3 | 9 |
| 117 to 120 | 2 | 28 |
| 121 to 124 | 2 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 15 | 15 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 16 |
| 137 to 140 | 9 | 14 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 1 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 4 |
| 149 to 152 | 4 | 10 |
| 153 to 156 | 3 | 4 |
| 157 to 160 | 2 | 3 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 1 |
| 165 to 168 | 1 | 8 |
| 169 to 172 | 3 | 10 |
| 173 to 176 | 4 | 4 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 13 |
| 181 to 184 | 6 | 18 |
| 185 to 185 | 0 | 0 |
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, 28 are women's.
175 lines from women, 458 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 35 men in the cast. 5 women and 2 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 745.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (2,183), men 76% (6,811). Women have 28% 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
40
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Berg (man)
- Written by
- Vincent Ngo (man), Vince Gilligan (man)
- Produced by
- Akiva Goldsman (man), James Lassiter (man), Michael Mann (man), Will Smith (man)
- Shot by
- Tobias A. Schliessler (man)
- Edited by
- Paul Rubell (man), Colby Parker, Jr. (man)
- Music by
- John Powell (man)
- Production design by
- Neil Spisak (man)
- Costumes by
- Louise Mingenbach (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman), Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
13 women, 33 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 16 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 11 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
7 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hayley Marie Norman 19, Charlize Theron 32
Men
Jae Head 11, Johnny Galecki 33, Maetrix Fitten 36, Thomas Lennon 37, David Mattey 38, Will Smith 39, Jason Bateman 39, Eddie Marsan 40
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $150 million
- Box office
- $629 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 185 scenes and 745 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
