Passes the Bechdel test
Henry Fool
1997. Directed by Hal Hartley, written by Hal Hartley.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 158. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Socially inept garbage man Simon is befriended by Henry Fool, a witty roguish, but talentless novelist. Henry opens a magical world of literature to Simon who turns his hand to writing the 'great American poem'. As Simon begins his controversial ascent to the dizzying heights of Nobel Prize winning poet, Henry sinks to a life of drinking in low-life bars. The two friends fall out and lose touch until Henry's criminal past catches up with him and he needs Simon's help to flee the country.
- Released
- 19 Jun 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Henry 307 lines, man
- Simon 204 lines, man
- Fay 122 lines, woman
- Warren 42 lines, man
- Angus 40 lines, man
- Amy 28 lines, woman
- Mr Deng 26 lines, man
- Father Hawkes 24 lines, man
- Mary 24 lines, woman
- Laura 17 lines, woman
Full cast, 47 people
- Thomas Jay Ryan as Henry Fool
- James Urbaniak as Simon Grim
- Parker Posey as Fay Grim
- Maria Porter as Mary
- James Saito as Mr. Deng
- Kevin Corrigan as Warren
- Liam Aiken as Ned
- Miho Nikaido as Gnoc Deng
- Gene Ruffini as Officer Buñuel
- Nicholas Hope as Father Hawkes
- Diana Ruppe as Amy
- Veanne Cox as Laura
- Jan Leslie Harding as Vicky
- Chaylee Worrall as Pearl (age 7)
- Christy Carlson Romano as Pearl (age 14)
- Chuck Montgomery as Angus James
- Melanie Vesey as Go-Go Dancer #1
- Denise Morgan as Go-Go Dancer #2
- Jill Morley as Afternoon Table Dancer
- Paul Boocock as Steve
- David Latham as Barry
- Marissa Chibas as Newspaper Reporter
- Julie Anderson as Woman Outside Store
- Reggie Harris as Anchorman
- Don Creech as Owen Feer
- Camille Paglia as Self
- Maraya Chase as TV Reporter
- Shoshana Ami as Young Woman in Library
- Karen DiConcetto as Girl in Library #1
- Tiffany Sampson as Girl in Library #2
- Rachel Miner as Girl in Library #3
- Paul Lazar as Doctor
- Gretchen Krich as Nurse
- Valorie Hubbard as Patty The Bartender
- Dave Simonds as Bill
- Fay Ann Lee as Lawyer
- Paul Greco as Concierge
- Blake Willett as Cop #1
- Raymond Cassar as Cop #2
- Katreen Hardt as Airline Ticket Clerk
- Rebecca Nelson as Flight Attendant Lucy
- Paul Albe as Angry Customer
- Vivian Bang as Teenager at World of Donuts
- Brandon Boey as Teenager at World of Donuts
- Claire Ritchie as Teenager at World of Donuts
- Herbie Duarte as Teenager at World of Donuts
- Toy Connor as Teenager at World of Donuts
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 158
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 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 to 12 | 4 | 33 |
| 13 to 16 | 12 | 22 |
| 17 to 20 | 12 | 37 |
| 21 to 24 | 4 | 31 |
| 25 to 28 | 15 | 6 |
| 29 to 32 | 1 | 21 |
| 33 to 36 | 5 | 11 |
| 37 to 40 | 9 | 35 |
| 41 to 44 | 11 | 15 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 33 |
| 49 to 52 | 20 | 37 |
| 53 to 56 | 25 | 37 |
| 57 to 60 | 1 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 8 | 12 |
| 65 to 68 | 15 | 40 |
| 69 to 72 | 2 | 18 |
| 73 to 76 | 5 | 3 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 1 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 40 |
| 97 to 100 | 13 | 26 |
| 101 to 104 | 9 | 30 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 22 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 12 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 0 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 20 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 47 |
| 129 to 132 | 7 | 20 |
| 133 to 136 | 15 | 29 |
| 137 to 140 | 19 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 12 |
| 149 to 152 | 1 | 5 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 5 |
| 157 to 158 | 1 | 2 |
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.
FAY: Oh, shut up! Turn around. MARY: This kinda thing has happened before.
FAY: Well, you oughta be home writing instead of hanging out over here with all your groupies. AMY: Hey, I'm not a groupie. FAY: Pardon me, swivel-hips. Is that your PowerBook? AMY: Yeah.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
233 lines from women, 676 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 15 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 944.
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 20% of the words (1,728), men 80% (7,001). Women have 26% 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
10
Two men
52
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Hal Hartley (man)
- Written by
- Hal Hartley (man)
- Produced by
- Hal Hartley (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Spiller (man)
- Edited by
- Steve Hamilton (man)
- Production design by
- Steve Rosenzweig (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Jocelyn Joson (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Parker Posey 29, Miho Nikaido 32
Men
Liam Aiken 8, Kevin Corrigan 29, James Urbaniak 34, Thomas Jay Ryan 35, Nicholas Hope 39, James Saito 43
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $900,000
- Box office
- $1.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 158 scenes and 944 lines of dialogue. How the test works
