Fails the Bechdel test
I Love You, Man
2009. Directed by John Hamburg, written by John Hamburg and Larry Levin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 9 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
Peter Klaven's world revolves around his real estate work and Zooey, his soon-to-be fiancée. After he pops the question, she calls her best friends and they go into wedding planning mode. Peter has no male friends and that poses problems: will he turn out to be a clingy guy, and who will be his best man? Zooey, her friends, and Peter's brother Robbie offer help that results in awkward moments. Then, at an open house Peter's hosting, he meets Sydney, an amiable, low-key guy. They trade business cards, and Peter calls him to meet for drinks. A friendship develops that's great at first but then threatens Peter's engagement and career. Can guys be friends and couples be in love?
- Released
- 20 Mar 2009
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peter 417 lines, man
- Sydney 190 lines, man
- Zooey 148 lines, woman
- Robbie 46 lines, man
- Oz 39 lines
- Denise 28 lines, woman
- Hailey 28 lines, woman
- Tevin 21 lines, man
- Joyce 20 lines, woman
- Lester 20 lines, man
Full cast, 56 people
- Paul Rudd as Peter Klaven
- Jason Segel as Sydney Fife
- Rashida Jones as Zooey Rice
- Andy Samberg as Robbie Klaven
- J.K. Simmons as Oswald Klaven
- Jane Curtin as Joyce Klaven
- Jon Favreau as Barry
- Jaime Pressly as Denise
- Rob Huebel as Tevin Downey
- Thomas Lennon as Doug
- Sarah Burns as Hailey
- Lou Ferrigno as Lou Ferrigno
- Greg Levine as Hailey's Date
- Jean Villepique as Leanne
- Kym Whitley as Female Co-Worker
- Colleen Crabtree as Female Co-Worker
- Caroline Farah as Female Co-Worker
- Mather Zickel as Gil
- Aziz Ansari as Eugene
- Nick Kroll as Larry
- Liz Cackowski as Zooey's Friend
- Kulap Vilaysack as Zooey's Friend
- Catherine Reitman as Zooey's Friend
- Carla Gallo as Zooey's Friend
- Vicki Davis as Zooey's Friend
- Josh Cooke as Alan (Bench Press Guy)
- Jay Chandrasekhar as Barry's Buddy
- Seth Morris as Barry's Buddy
- James P. Engel as Barry's Buddy
- Jerry Minor as Berry's Buddy
- Joe Lo Truglio as Lonnie (Voice Crack Guy)
- Murray Gershenz as Mel Stein
- Keri Safran as JAR Waitress
- Greg Tuculescu as Open House Couple
- Ian Roberts as Venice Broadwalk Jogger
- Bob Cicherillo as Venice Boardwalk Bodybuilder
- Ethan S. Smith as Sidney's Buddy
- Nelson Franklin as Sidney's Buddy
- Ping Wu as Mr. Chu
- Jill Bartlett as Woman Leaving Sydney's House
- Matt Walsh as Impatient Golfer
- Geddy Lee as Geddy Lee - Rush
- Alex Lifeson as Alex Lifeson - Rush
- Neil Peart as Neil Peart - Rush
- Melissa Rauch as Woman Jogger Yelling at Sydney
- David Wain as Wedding Photographer
- Raquel Bell as Saks Fifth Avenue Saleswoman
- Larry Wilmore as Justice Of The Peace
- Dennis James Anderson as Hank Mardukas
- Craig Wedren as Wedding Band
- Damian Kulash as Wedding Band
- Tim Nordwind as Wedding Band
- Dan Konopka as Wedding Band
- Andy Ross as Wedding Band
- David Krumholtz as Sydney's Buddy (uncredited)
- Sidow Sobrino as Rush Concert Fan (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 121
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 | 22 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 19 | 17 |
| 7 to 9 | 22 | 29 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 13 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 20 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 20 | 2 |
| 22 to 24 | 10 | 34 |
| 25 to 27 | 2 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 7 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 12 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 23 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 26 |
| 46 to 48 | 31 | 14 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 43 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 32 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 30 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 43 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 49 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 28 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 27 | 47 |
| 85 to 87 | 8 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 64 |
| 91 to 93 | 14 | 56 |
| 94 to 96 | 9 | 13 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 36 |
| 103 to 105 | 7 | 18 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 1 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 4 |
| 115 to 117 | 15 | 10 |
| 118 to 120 | 11 | 34 |
| 121 to 121 | 0 | 1 |
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, 24 are women's.
238 lines from women, 747 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 36 men in the cast. 9 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,049.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 138 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (2,821), men 79% (10,333). Women have 24% 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
14
Two men
61
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Hamburg (man)
- Written by
- John Hamburg (man), Larry Levin (man)
- Story by
- Larry Levin (man)
- Produced by
- John Hamburg (man), Donald De Line (man)
- Shot by
- Lawrence Sher (man)
- Edited by
- William Kerr (man)
- Music by
- Theodore Shapiro (man)
- Production design by
- Andrew Laws (man)
- Costumes by
- Leesa Evans (woman)
- Cast by
- Allison Jones (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jaime Pressly 31, Rashida Jones 33, Jane Curtin 61
Men
Jason Segel 29, Andy Samberg 30, Thomas Lennon 38, Paul Rudd 39, Rob Huebel 39, Jon Favreau 42, J.K. Simmons 54
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $41 million
- Box office
- $92 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 121 scenes and 1,049 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
