Fails the Bechdel test
Inherent Vice
2015. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, written by Paul Thomas Anderson and Thomas Pynchon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
48 women characters. 16 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
During the psychedelic 60s and 70s Larry "Doc" Sportello is surprised by his former girlfriend and her plot for her billionaire boyfriend, his wife, and her boyfriend. A plan for kidnapping gets shaken up by the oddball characters entangled in this groovy kidnapping romp based upon the novel by Thomas Pynchon.
- Released
- 09 Jan 2015
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 81 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 16 wins & 99 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Doc 432 lines, man
- Bigfoot 109 lines, man
- Shasta 60 lines, woman
- Jade 32 lines, woman
- Sauncho 31 lines, man
- Sortilege 31 lines, woman
- Tariq 28 lines, man
- Flatweed 23 lines, man
- Blatnoyd 20 lines, man
- Coy 19 lines, man
Full cast, 99 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Larry "Doc" Sportello
- Josh Brolin as Lt. Det. Christian F. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen
- Owen Wilson as Coy Harlingen
- Katherine Waterston as Shasta Fay Hepworth
- Reese Witherspoon as Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball
- Benicio del Toro as Sauncho Smilax, Esq.
- Jena Malone as Hope Harlingen
- Joanna Newsom as Sortilège, who is also the narrator
- Jordan Christian Hearn as Denis
- Hong Chau as Jade
- Jeannie Berlin as Aunt Reet
- Maya Rudolph as Petunia Leeway
- Michael Kenneth Williams as Tariq Khalil
- Martin Short as Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.
- Sasha Pieterse as Japonica Fenway
- Martin Donovan as Crocker Fenway
- Eric Roberts as Michael Z. "Mickey" Wolfmann
- Serena Scott Thomas as Sloane Wolfmann
- Christopher Allen Nelson as Glenn Charlock
- Sam Jaeger as Agent Flatweed
- Timothy Simons as Agent Borderline
- Jillian Bell as Chlorinda
- Taylor Bonin as Ensenada Slim
- Martin Dew as Dr. Buddy Tubeside
- Shannon Collis as Bambi
- Catherine Haena Kim as News Reporter
- Vivienne Khaledi as Amethyst Harlingen
- Yvette Yates Redick as Luz
- Andrew Simpson as Riggs Warbling
- Joe Dioletto as Cop with Bigfoot
- Jack Kelly as Burke Stodger (archive footage)
- Belladonna as Clancy Charlock
- Alina Gatti as Howdy Doper's Phone Voice (voice)
- Elaine Tan as Xandra
- Wilson Bethel as LAPD Officer #1
- Anders Holm as LAPD Officer #2
- Emmet Unverzagt as Bigfoot's Kid
- Erica Sullivan as Dr. Lily Hammer
- Eva Fisher as Dr. Threeply's Assistant #1
- Jackie Michele Johnson as Dr. Threeply's Assistant #2
- Katie Schwartz as Kimberly
- Charley Morgan as Dr. Igor
- Keith Jardine as Puck Beaverton
- Delaina Mitchell as Mrs. Chastity Bjornsen
- Michael Cotter as Rhus Frothingham
- Peter McRobbie as Adrian Prussia
- Shannon C. Sullivan as Adrian Prussia's Secretary
- Samantha Lemole as Golden Fang Mother
- Madison Leisle as Golden Fang Daughter
- Liam Van Joosten as Golden Fang Son
- Matt Doyle as Golden Fang Father
- Christian Williams as Smedley
- Jefferson Mays as Dr. Threeply
- David Prak as Buddhist Monk
- Amy Ferguson as Bodhi
- Emma Dumont as Zinnia
- Scott Aschenbrenner as Jesus Guard (uncredited)
- Christina Bobrowsky as Patient (uncredited)
- Peter Bonilla as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Gregoer Boru as Recording Tech (uncredited)
- Marianne Bourg as Beach Girl (uncredited)
- Toyia Brown as Harmony (uncredited)
- Stu Brumbaugh as Groupie (uncredited)
- Seth Cash as Detective (uncredited)
- Laura Lyon Rossi as Groupie (uncredited)
- Ashleigh Biller as Patient (uncredited)
- Elizabeth Colunga as Patient (uncredited)
- Emma Cooper as Groupie (uncredited)
- Nick de Graffenreid as Patient (uncredited)
- Adam Dorsey as Jesus Guard (uncredited)
- Ken Edling as Judge (uncredited)
- Jenna Emery as Groupie (uncredited)
- Al Function as Biker (uncredited)
- Brandy Futch as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
- Lauren Goncher as Dental Assistant (uncredited)
- Ellen Ho as Chinese Waitress (uncredited)
- Jessica Huss as Speed Freak (uncredited)
- Robert Peoples as Patient (uncredited)
- Dallas James as Auto Mechanic (uncredited)
- Christopher Karl Johnson as Mr. Robinson (uncredited)
- Timothy Lally as Commando (uncredited)
- Adeana Lane as Beach Girl (uncredited)
- Kira Legg as Groupie (uncredited)
- Tracy Ann Lisa as District Attorney (uncredited)
- Blue LoLan as Patient (uncredited)
- Jacob Lyman as Mormon FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Amanda Maddox as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
- Emilee Madrak as Groupie (uncredited)
- Kirstin Masters as Dental Assistant (uncredited)
- Zach McMahon as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Chelsea O'Toole as Patient (uncredited)
- Shaun Parker as Commando (uncredited)
- Rodney J. Richards as Adrian Prussia's Friend (uncredited)
- Philip Roosevelt as Hippie in Commune (uncredited)
- Osamu Saito as Japanese Waiter (uncredited)
- Joel Shock as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Matthew Skomo as Detective (uncredited)
- Chantal Thuy as Groupie (uncredited)
- Diana Elizabeth Torres as Lourdes (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 84
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 2 | 25 | 26 |
| 3 to 4 | 10 | 9 |
| 5 to 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 to 8 | 3 | 40 |
| 9 to 10 | 7 | 5 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 44 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 13 |
| 15 to 16 | 13 | 23 |
| 17 to 18 | 12 | 15 |
| 19 to 20 | 8 | 6 |
| 21 to 22 | 5 | 4 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 18 |
| 25 to 26 | 3 | 2 |
| 27 to 28 | 9 | 33 |
| 29 to 30 | 5 | 21 |
| 31 to 32 | 14 | 28 |
| 33 to 34 | 1 | 13 |
| 35 to 36 | 12 | 26 |
| 37 to 38 | 4 | 4 |
| 39 to 40 | 4 | 2 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 5 |
| 43 to 44 | 2 | 12 |
| 45 to 46 | 12 | 22 |
| 47 to 48 | 1 | 6 |
| 49 to 50 | 6 | 17 |
| 51 to 52 | 7 | 15 |
| 53 to 54 | 2 | 11 |
| 55 to 56 | 4 | 64 |
| 57 to 58 | 3 | 12 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 9 |
| 61 to 62 | 1 | 15 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 17 |
| 65 to 66 | 8 | 24 |
| 67 to 68 | 18 | 44 |
| 69 to 70 | 9 | 9 |
| 71 to 72 | 4 | 31 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 33 |
| 75 to 76 | 2 | 3 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 39 |
| 79 to 80 | 3 | 9 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 13 |
| 83 to 84 | 6 | 19 |
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, 23 are women's.
231 lines from women, 768 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
48 women and 39 men in the cast. 16 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,019.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 61 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 29% of the words (4,132), men 71% (10,143). Women have 23% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
3
Two men
15
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Paul Thomas Anderson (man)
- Written by
- Paul Thomas Anderson (man)
- From the novel by
- Thomas Pynchon (man)
- Produced by
- Paul Thomas Anderson (man), JoAnne Sellar (woman), Daniel Lupi (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Elswit (man)
- Edited by
- Leslie Jones (woman)
- Music by
- Jonny Greenwood (man)
- Production design by
- David Crank (man)
- Costumes by
- Mark Bridges (man)
- Cast by
- Cassandra Kulukundis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 14 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 17 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 8 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jena Malone 30, Joanna Newsom 32, Katherine Waterston 34, Hong Chau 35, Reese Witherspoon 38
Men
Joaquin Phoenix 40, Josh Brolin 46, Owen Wilson 46, Benicio del Toro 47
Exhibit G: the money
It made 74% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $14.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 84 scenes and 1,019 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
