Passes the Bechdel test
I'll Do Anything
1994. Directed by James L. Brooks, written by James L. Brooks.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 10 scenes out of 113. -
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
Matt Hobbs is a talented but unsuccessful actor. When estranged (and strange) ex-wife Beth dumps their daughter Jeannie on him, father and daughter have a lot of adjusting to do. His budding relationship with attractive production assistant Cathy Breslow is made complicated, while the precocious child is overly accustomed to getting her own way. Matt eventually faces the choice of family versus career in a particularly difficult way.
- Released
- 04 Feb 1994
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.5 / 10
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Matt 304 lines, man
- Burke 149 lines, man
- Jeannie 123 lines, woman
- Cathy 118 lines, woman
- Nan 82 lines, woman
- Beth 41 lines, woman
- Lucy 14 lines, woman
- Male D Person 14 lines, man
- Director 8 lines, man
- Group Captain 8 lines, man
Full cast, 87 people
- Nick Nolte as Matt Hobbs
- Whittni Wright as Jeannie Hobbs
- Albert Brooks as Burke Adler
- Julie Kavner as Nan Mulhanney
- Joely Richardson as Cathy Breslow
- Tracey Ullman as Beth Hobbs
- Jeb Brown as Male D Person
- Joely Fisher as Female D Person
- Vicki Lewis as Millie
- Anne Heche as Claire
- Ian McKellen as John Earl McAlpine
- Joel Thurm as Martin
- Angela Alvarado as Lucy
- Dominik Lukas-Espeleta as Ricky
- Justina Hardesty as Essa
- Robert Joy as U.S. Marshal
- Maria Pitillo as Flight Attendant
- Suzzanne Douglas as Rainbow House Star
- Joseph Malone as Assistant Director
- Jake Busey as Burke's Fired Driver
- Harry Shearer as Audience Research Captain
- Rosie O'Donnell as Makeup
- Ken Page as Hair Person
- Chelsea Field as Screentest Actress
- Justine Shapiro as Studio Executive
- Amy Brooks as Shannon
- Ian Deitchman as Popcorn Pictures P.A.
- Maria Kavanaugh as Secretary on Telephone
- Peter Kwong as Popcorn Pictures Intern
- Roz Baker as Taxi Driver
- Courtney Perry as Audition Child
- Perry Anzilotti as Rainbow House Supporting Actor
- Wren T. Brown as Floor Manager
- John D. Schofield as Screentest Director
- Steve Vinovich as Rainbow House Director
- D.J. Dellos as Rainbow House Child
- Arvie Lowe, Jr. as Rainbow House Child
- Dale Anthony Phillips Jr. as Rainbow House Child
- Alex Dent as Rainbow House Child
- Amish Desai as Rainbow House Child
- Alissa Dowdy as Rainbow House Child
- Danielle Dowdy as Rainbow House Child
- Heather DeLoach as Rainbow House Child
- Mayah McCoy as Rainbow House Child
- Brittany Johnson as Rainbow House Child
- Jennifer Cabrera as Rainbow House Child
- Tricia Joe as Rainbow House Child
- Chloe Brooks as Child Actress in the Street
- Andrew David DeAngelo as Rainbow House Parent
- Doris Dowdy as Rainbow House Parent
- Susan DeLoach as Rainbow House Parent
- Annalouise Paul as Rainbow House Parent
- Trixie Flynn as Rainbow House Parent
- Andy Milder as Warm-Up Man
- Ron Perkins as Victor
- Aaron Lustig as Jack
- Elisabeth Boyd as Elisabeth
- Kate McNeil as Stacy
- Patrick Cassidy as Ground Zero Villain
- Woody Harrelson as Ground Zero Hero
- Norris J. Bishton III as Restaurant Patron
- Allison J. Brown as Restaurant Patron
- Stacey Renee Caddell as Restaurant Patron
- Alan James Luzietti as Restaurant Patron
- Jodi Ellen Melnick as Restaurant Patron
- Shawn Marie Stevens as Restaurant Patron
- Michael George Whaites as Restaurant Patron
- Keith Harden Young as Restaurant Patron
- Joan Giammarco as Airplane Passenger
- Tricia Leigh Fisher as Airplane Passenger
- Jerry Hauck as Airplane Passenger
- Jose Payo as Airplane Passenger
- Hannah Nielsen as Baby Jeannie
- Ingrid Nielsen as Baby Jeannie
- Lena Banks as Airplane Passenger (uncredited)
- Chris Finch as Auditioning Actor / Dancer (uncredited)
- Sandy Helberg as Theater Critic (uncredited)
- Gregory Hinton as Bouncer (uncredited)
- Scott Krinsky as Focus Group Member (uncredited)
- Richard Lear as Principal Dancer (uncredited)
- Alex Magno as Dancer (uncredited)
- Nichole McAuley as Extra (uncredited)
- Bubba Dean Rambo as Dancer (uncredited)
- Jonathan Romley as Rainbow House Child (uncredited)
- Maggie Roswell as Woman (uncredited)
- Vern Urich as Theatre Patron (uncredited)
- Viviane Vives as Auditioning Actress (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 113
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 | 5 |
| 4 to 6 | 14 | 27 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 7 | 37 |
| 16 to 18 | 16 | 11 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 16 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 20 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 9 | 13 |
| 37 to 39 | 21 | 17 |
| 40 to 42 | 18 | 15 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 12 | 13 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 6 |
| 52 to 54 | 23 | 18 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 22 |
| 58 to 60 | 14 | 17 |
| 61 to 63 | 16 | 14 |
| 64 to 66 | 19 | 17 |
| 67 to 69 | 10 | 18 |
| 70 to 72 | 13 | 11 |
| 73 to 75 | 9 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 20 | 29 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 26 | 27 |
| 85 to 87 | 18 | 12 |
| 88 to 90 | 24 | 26 |
| 91 to 93 | 10 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 9 | 7 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 12 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 14 | 16 |
| 109 to 111 | 27 | 20 |
| 112 to 113 | 9 | 23 |
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.
FEMALE D PERSON: Story, story, story, story, story. You loved it, right? CATHY: I had some problems. FEMALE D PERSON: Like what? CATHY: Well, you know, it's a little garbagey.
BETH: Okay, listen carefully, Jeannie. Be still. Now, what's the most important thing in life to know? JEANNIE: No one will ever love me as much as you do. BETH: Good. Now, concentrate with all your muscles and remember everything I'm about to say to you... BETH: Don't talk to strangers. They may be killers. Take your vitamins so the poison in the food can't hurt you. What else now?
JEANNIE: I want to go with you. BETH: Can't, pretty-heart. I'm sorry. JEANNIE: Not even a compromise? BETH: The compromise will be that you don't have to ride in back; you can ride up front with the driver... okay?
JEANNIE: Noooooo. Let go of me. Noooo. The yellow dress... let go... let go. FLIGHT ATTENDANT: You'll have to sit down.
LUCY: Listen to me, Jeannie... JEANNIE: I want to live here with these people. God, let me live here.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.
419 lines from women, 523 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 31 men in the cast. 11 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 33 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 42% of the words (4,851), men 58% (6,578). Women have 44% 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
23
Two men
27
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- James L. Brooks (man)
- Written by
- James L. Brooks (man)
- Produced by
- James L. Brooks (man), Polly Platt (woman)
- Shot by
- Michael Ballhaus (man)
- Edited by
- Richard Marks (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man), Prince (man)
- Production design by
- Stephen J. Lineweaver (man)
- Costumes by
- Marlene Stewart (woman)
- Cast by
- Paula Herold (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 5 men
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Whittni Wright 6, Anne Heche 24, Joely Fisher 26, Joely Richardson 29, Vicki Lewis 33, Tracey Ullman 34, Julie Kavner 43
Men
Albert Brooks 46, Nick Nolte 52
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 113 scenes and 970 lines of dialogue. How the test works
