Fails the Bechdel test
I Love You Phillip Morris
2011. Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra and Steve McVicker.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
20 women characters. 17 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life. Steven becomes open about his homosexuality and decides to live life to the fullest - even if it means breaking the law. Steven's new, extravagant lifestyle involves cons and fraud and, eventually, a stay in the Texas State Penitentiary where he meets sensitive, soft-spoken Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts Steven to attempt and often succeed at one impossible con after another.
- Released
- 07 Jan 2011
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 65 / 100
- Awards
- 6 wins & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Steven 367 lines, man
- Phillip 143 lines, man
- Debbie 49 lines, woman
- Kemple 45 lines, man
- Lindholm 23 lines, man
- Cleavon 16 lines, man
- Birkheim 11 lines, man
- Guard 9 lines, man
- Judge 8 lines, man
- Steven'S Mom 8 lines, woman
Full cast, 90 people
- Jim Carrey as Steven Russell
- Ewan McGregor as Phillip Morris
- Leslie Mann as Debbie
- Rodrigo Santoro as Jimmy
- Antoni Corone as Lindholm
- Brennan Brown as Larry Bukheim
- Michael Mandell as Cleavon
- Annie Golden as Eudora
- Marylouise Burke as Barbara Bascombe
- David Jensen as Judge
- Dameon Clarke as Houston Lawyer
- Clay Chamberlin as Arnie
- Louis Herthum as Doctor
- Morgana Shaw as Steven's Mom
- Joe Chrest as Steven's Dad
- Griff Furst as Mark
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Reba
- DeVere Jehl as Samuel
- Michael Showers as Gary
- Beth Burvant as Sara
- Ladson Deyne as Neil
- Kennon Kepper as Steven - 9yrs
- Alyssa Tate as Child Stephanie
- Andrew Sensenig as Screecher
- David Stanford as Paramedic
- Bill Dykes as Latino Man
- Tony Bentley as Racist Client
- Kathrin Middleton as Saleswoman
- Donovan Guidry as The Moustached Man
- Nicholas Alexander as Steven's Brother
- Michael Beasley as Prison Guard
- Sean Boyd as Policeman
- Maureen Brennan as Vera
- Marcus Lyle Brown as Young Doctor
- Trey Burvant as Blake
- Ken Clement as County Corrections Officer
- Miriam Cruz as Helen
- David Dahlgren as Physician
- Tommy Davis as Todd
- Michael Ducote as Swat Commander
- Ashley Duggan Smith as Secretary #3
- Lela Edgar as Blond Wife
- J.D. Evermore as Bossy Guard
- Jon Eyez as Second Prisoner
- Evan Fitzpatrick as Red-haired Boy
- Shane Fitzpatrick as Little Girl
- Shane Fuller as Male Nurse
- Jeff Galpin as Lead Officer
- Lawrence C. Gamell Jr. as Driving Cop
- Jim Garrity as Night Guard
- Leon Gisclair as Little Boy
- Geraldine Glenn as Mandi
- Douglas M. Griffin as Steven's Attorney
- Jessica Heap as Secretary
- Tim Hickey as Blond Inmate
- Keith Hudson as Produce Manager
- Jeremy Aaron Johnson as Policeman #1
- Jacqueline King as Lawyer
- Alexa Kuve as Cherubic Secretary
- Fredrick Lewis as Yoakum
- Sharon K. London as Clerk
- Audrey Lynn as Married Woman
- Marc Macaulay as Houston Cop
- Reginald Mack as Jail Guard
- Danny Marin as Infirmary Orderly
- Sammi-Jack Martincak as 12-Year Old Stephanie
- Ann McKenzie as Facelift Wife
- Thelma Medina as Huge Nurse
- Wendy Michaels as Housewife
- John J. Mourain as Taxi Driver
- Randall Newsome as Cop
- Lance E. Nichols as Houston Judge
- Antonino Paone as Cab Driver
- Liann Pattison as Mrs. Lindholm
- Sherrie Peterson as Female D.A.
- Clyde Raymond as Houston Doctor
- Dane Rhodes as Bald Prisoner
- Johnny Rock as New Cellmate
- Archie Sampier as Yard Guard
- Andy Sims as Corrections Officer
- Aron Ten Eyck as Policeman #2
- Thomas Thomason as Lawrence
- Deneen Tyler as Caretaker
- Chris Wecklein as Baylor
- Scotty Whitehurst as Orderly
- Bill Martin Williams as Duty Officer
- Jaymon Yates as First Prisoner
- Don Yesso as Guard
- Don Mac as SWAT Team Member (uncredited)
- Ana Villafañe as Bikini Girl (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 212
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 5 | 9 | 10 |
| 6 to 10 | 8 | 7 |
| 11 to 15 | 25 | 30 |
| 16 to 20 | 2 | 17 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 16 |
| 26 to 30 | 3 | 12 |
| 31 to 35 | 11 | 25 |
| 36 to 40 | 12 | 24 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 to 50 | 1 | 43 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 27 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 26 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 35 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 17 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 6 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 13 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 22 |
| 86 to 90 | 12 | 26 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 34 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 23 |
| 101 to 105 | 7 | 13 |
| 106 to 110 | 2 | 15 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 10 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 31 |
| 121 to 125 | 1 | 3 |
| 126 to 130 | 7 | 17 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 11 |
| 136 to 140 | 0 | 12 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 19 |
| 146 to 150 | 2 | 14 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 13 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 10 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 16 |
| 166 to 170 | 6 | 34 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 10 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 3 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 12 |
| 186 to 190 | 3 | 9 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 15 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 5 |
| 201 to 205 | 0 | 11 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 12 |
| 211 to 212 | 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, 14 are women's.
114 lines from women, 715 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
20 women and 44 men in the cast. 17 women and 40 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 851.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 171 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 11% of the words (985), men 89% (7,723). Women have 14% 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
2
Two men
67
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Requa (man), Glenn Ficarra (man)
- Written by
- John Requa (man), Glenn Ficarra (man)
- Produced by
- Andrew Lazar (man), Far Shariat (man)
- Shot by
- Xavier Grobet (man)
- Edited by
- Thomas J. Nordberg (man)
- Music by
- Nick Urata (man)
- Production design by
- Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski (man)
- Costumes by
- David C. Robinson (man)
- Cast by
- Bernard Telsey (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 13 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 0 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 55 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Leslie Mann 37, Annie Golden 58, Marylouise Burke 69
Men
Rodrigo Santoro 34, Ewan McGregor 38, Brennan Brown 41, Jim Carrey 48, Michael Mandell 50, Antoni Corone 54, David Jensen 57
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $13 million
- Box office
- $20.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 212 scenes and 851 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
