Fails the Bechdel test
Happy Gilmore
1996. Directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
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
A Hockey player wannabe finds out that he has the most powerful golf drive in history. He joins the P.G.A. tour to make some money to save grandma's house. The downside is that his hockey player mentality doesn't really go on the P.G.A. tour. Especially with the favorite to win the championship.i
- Released
- 16 Feb 1996
- Genres
- Comedy, Sport
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 31 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Happy 311 lines, man
- Shooter 71 lines, man
- Chubbs 69 lines, man
- Virginia 61 lines, woman
- Doug 20 lines, man
- Grandma 19 lines, woman
- Rosa 17 lines, woman
- Homeless Guy 13 lines, man
- Jeering Fan 13 lines, man
- Mover 1 13 lines, man
Full cast, 65 people
- Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore
- Julie Bowen as Virginia
- Christopher McDonald as Shooter
- Frances Bay as Grandma
- Carl Weathers as Chubbs
- Allen Covert as Otto
- Robert Smigel as IRS Agent
- Bob Barker as Bob Barker
- Richard Kiel as Mr. Larson
- Dennis Dugan as Doug Thompson
- Joe Flaherty as Jeering Fan
- Lee Trevino as Lee Trevino
- Kevin Nealon as Potter
- Verne Lundquist as Announcer
- Jared Van Snellenberg as Happy's Waterbury Caddy
- Ken Camroux-Taylor as Coach
- Rich Elwood as Assistant Coach
- Nancy Hillis as Terry
- Helena Yea as Chinese Lady
- Will Sasso as Mover
- Dee Jay Jackson as Mover
- Ellie Harvie as Registrar
- Ian Boothby as Guy on Green
- Andrew Johnston as Crowd Guy (Waterbury)
- Kim Restell as Crowd Girl (Waterbury)
- Fred Perron as Waterbury Heckler
- Helen Honeywell as Crazy Old Lady
- Paul Raskin as Starter #1 (Waterbury)
- William Samples as Starter #2 (AT&T)
- John Shaw as Daniel Lafferty
- Ted Deekan as Auctioneer
- John Destry as Zamboni Driver
- James Crescenzo as Shooters AT&T Caddy
- Brett Armstrong as Shooters Tournament Caddy
- Peter Kelamis as Potter's Caddy
- Stephen Tibbetts as Pro Golfer
- Ed Lieberman as Pro Golfer
- Donnie MacMillan as Young Happy
- Louis O'Donoghue as Happy's Dad
- Lisanne Collett as Happy's Mom
- Stephen Dimopoulos as Italian Guy
- Douglas Newell as Starter #4 (Pro-Am)
- Frank L. Frazier as Blue Collar Fan
- David Kaye as Reporter
- Zachary Webb as Batting Kid
- Simon Webb as Doctor
- Mark Lye as Mark Lye
- Betty Linde as Elderly Woman
- Dave Cameron as Reporter #2
- Louis Kliman as Reporter #3
- Brent Chapman as Official
- Jessica Gunn as Signed Chest Woman
- Phillip Beer as Cowboy Joe
- Fat Jack as Jack Beard
- Michelle Holdsworth as Babe on Green
- Charles L. Brame as Abe Lincoln
- Ben Stiller as Hal L. (uncredited)
- Elizabeth Duff as Golf Fan (uncredited)
- Carrie Anne Fleming as Donna (uncredited)
- Jack Giarraputo as Sportscaster (uncredited)
- Brennan Kotowich as Boy (uncredited)
- Michael Roberds as Shirtless 'H' Fan (uncredited)
- Joe Sakic as Player at Hockey Tryouts (uncredited)
- Valarie Trapp as Valarie Trapp (uncredited)
- Heath Young as Golf Fan (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 126
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 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 to 9 | 4 | 18 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 38 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 39 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 33 |
| 25 to 27 | 2 | 28 |
| 28 to 30 | 4 | 14 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 24 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 7 | 7 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 14 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 4 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 7 | 17 |
| 58 to 60 | 2 | 15 |
| 61 to 63 | 9 | 30 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 12 |
| 70 to 72 | 9 | 23 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 35 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 17 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 18 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 28 |
| 106 to 108 | 2 | 24 |
| 109 to 111 | 16 | 15 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 5 | 36 |
| 118 to 120 | 2 | 16 |
| 121 to 123 | 2 | 11 |
| 124 to 126 | 2 | 5 |
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, 15 are women's.
108 lines from women, 599 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 36 men in the cast. 5 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 767.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (1,084), men 87% (6,966). Women have 15% 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
60
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Dennis Dugan (man)
- Written by
- Tim Herlihy (man), Adam Sandler (man)
- Produced by
- Robert Simonds (man)
- Shot by
- Arthur Albert (man)
- Edited by
- Jeff Gourson (man), Steve R. Moore (man)
- Music by
- Mark Mothersbaugh (man)
- Production design by
- William Heslup (man), Perry Andelin Blake (man)
- Cast by
- Joanna Colbert (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 13 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Julie Bowen 25, Frances Bay 77
Men
Adam Sandler 29, Allen Covert 31, Robert Smigel 36, Christopher McDonald 41, Carl Weathers 48, Dennis Dugan 49, Richard Kiel 56, Bob Barker 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $12 million
- Box office
- $41.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 126 scenes and 767 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
