Fails the Bechdel test
Indecent Proposal
1993. Directed by Adrian Lyne, written by Jack Engelhard and Amy Holden Jones.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 3 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 happily-married young couple, David Murphy and Diana Murphy have started their respective careers, she as a real estate broker, he as an architect. She finds the perfect spot to build his dream house, and they get loans to finance it. When the recession hits, they stand to lose everything they own, so they go to Las Vegas to have one shot with their last $5000 at winning the money they need. After losing at the tables, they are approached by a suave billionaire and high-stakes gambler, John Gage, who offers them a million dollars for a night with Diana. Indignant but already seduced, Diana and David reluctantly agree. They say money can't buy love. Though the couple agrees that this is a way out of their financial dilemma, it threatens to destroy their relationship. Can the husband and wife survive John's ultimate test?
- Released
- 07 Apr 1993
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 45 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Diana 267 lines, woman
- David 259 lines, man
- Gage 155 lines, man
- Jeremy 42 lines, man
- Jimmy 14 lines
- Janine 13 lines
- George 10 lines
- Darlene 9 lines
- Mo 7 lines
- Man 6 lines, man
Full cast, 44 people
- Robert Redford as John Gage
- Demi Moore as Diana Murphy
- Woody Harrelson as David Murphy
- Seymour Cassel as Mr. Shackleford
- Oliver Platt as Jeremy
- Billy Bob Thornton as Day Tripper
- Billy Connolly as Auction M.C.
- Rip Taylor as Mr. Langford
- Pierre Epstein as Van Buren
- Joel Brooks as Realtor
- Pamela Holt as David's Girlfriend
- Nicholas Georgiade as Croupier
- Danny Zorn as Screenwriter
- Kevin West as Screenwriter
- Tommy Bush as David's Father
- Mariclare Costello as David's Mother
- Jedda Jones as Craps Woman
- Myra J. as Craps Woman
- Edwonda White as Craps Woman
- Frankie J. Allison as Craps Box Man
- Joseph Ruskin as Pit Boss
- Joe La Due as High Roller
- Ben W. Fluker as Roulette Croupier
- Richard Livingston as Mike
- Joe Bays as Jeffrey
- David Rees as Businessman
- Irene Olga López as Gage's Maid
- Israel Juarbe as Citizenship Student
- Lydia Nicole as Citizenship Student
- Iqbal Theba as Citizenship Student
- Maurice Sherbanee as Citizenship Student
- Elsa Raven as Citizenship Student
- Matthew Barry as Architecture Student
- Chi Muoi Lo as Architecture Student
- Art Chudabala as Architecture Student
- Hilary Reynolds as Architecture Student
- Selma Archerd as Auction Bidder
- Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc as Helicopter Pilot
- Alan D. Purwin as Helicopter Pilot
- Sheena Easton as Sheena Easton
- Herbie Hancock as Herbie Hancock
- Ashlyn Gere as Body Double (as Kim McKamy)
- Toru Nagai as High Roller Card-Man
- Françoise Ruggieri as Woman in Restaurant
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 148
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 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 to 8 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 16 | 7 | 7 |
| 17 to 20 | 12 | 17 |
| 21 to 24 | 15 | 14 |
| 25 to 28 | 3 | 2 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 3 |
| 33 to 36 | 15 | 28 |
| 37 to 40 | 20 | 46 |
| 41 to 44 | 27 | 66 |
| 45 to 48 | 2 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 1 | 9 |
| 57 to 60 | 11 | 16 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 1 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 4 |
| 69 to 72 | 1 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 5 | 12 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 3 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 33 | 29 |
| 89 to 92 | 21 | 14 |
| 93 to 96 | 21 | 26 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 7 |
| 101 to 104 | 6 | 23 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 6 | 9 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 18 |
| 117 to 120 | 5 | 8 |
| 121 to 124 | 10 | 17 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 16 |
| 129 to 132 | 11 | 10 |
| 133 to 136 | 6 | 27 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 13 | 23 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 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, 36 are women's.
272 lines from women, 485 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 28 men in the cast. 3 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 876.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 58 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 35% of the words (2,428), men 65% (4,547). Women have 36% 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
25
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Adrian Lyne (man)
- Written by
- Amy Holden Jones (woman)
- From the novel by
- Jack Engelhard (man)
- Produced by
- Sherry Lansing (woman)
- Shot by
- Howard Atherton (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Hutshing (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Production design by
- Mel Bourne (man)
- Costumes by
- Bobbie Read (woman), Beatrix Aruna Pasztor (woman), Bernie Pollack (man)
- Cast by
- Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men
-
Sound
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Demi Moore 30
Men
Woody Harrelson 31, Oliver Platt 33, Billy Bob Thornton 37, Joel Brooks 43, Billy Connolly 50, Robert Redford 56, Seymour Cassel 58, Rip Taylor 62, Pierre Epstein 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 7.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $38 million
- Box office
- $267 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 148 scenes and 876 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
