Passes the Bechdel test
Innerspace
1987. Directed by Joe Dante, written by Jeffrey Boam and Chip Proser.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 233. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Tuck Pendleton is a cocky pilot, who is taking part in a miniaturization experiment. When some bad guys break into the lab to steal the technology, one of the scientists takes a syringe which contains the miniaturized Tuck and vessel. Now in the vessel is half of the material needed to restore him. But the other half which is in the lab is stolen. The scientist is shot but before dying he injects Tuck into Jack Putter, a hypochondriac, who feels that something is wrong with him all the time. When Tuck links himself to Jack's systems, he discovers that something happened. So they go back to the lab and discover what happened. Now they are told that unless they retrieve the material that was stolen, they won't be able to restore Tuck before his oxygen is depleted. Now the government rep decides that the only thing that matters that as long as they have the other half of the material, it is useless to the thieves. So Tuck eggs Jack to go out and find them. They enlist the aid of Tuck's old girlfriend, Lydia, a reporter. And it's fortunate for them that she has a lead that pans out.
- Released
- 01 Jul 1987
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tuck 272 lines, man
- Jack 227 lines, man
- Lydia 129 lines, woman
- Scrimshaw 43 lines, man
- Canker 27 lines, woman
- Computer Voice 25 lines, man
- Blanchard 23 lines, man
- Ozzie 19 lines, man
- Wendy 19 lines, woman
- Niles 18 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
- Dennis Quaid as Lt. Tuck Pendleton
- Martin Short as Jack Putter
- Meg Ryan as Lydia Maxwell
- Kevin McCarthy as Victor Eugene Scrimshaw
- Fiona Lewis as Dr. Margaret Canker
- Vernon Wells as Mr. Igoe
- Robert Picardo as The Cowboy
- Wendy Schaal as Wendy
- Harold Sylvester as Pete Blanchard
- William Schallert as Dr. Greenbush
- Henry Gibson as Mr. Wormwood
- John Hora as Ozzie Wexler
- Mark L. Taylor as Dr. Niles
- Orson Bean as Lydia's Editor
- Kevin Hooks as Duane
- Kathleen Freeman as Dream Lady
- Archie Hahn as Messenger
- Dick Miller as Cab Driver
- Kenneth Tobey as Man in Restroom
- Joe Flaherty as Waiting Room Patient
- Andrea Martin as Waiting Room Patient
- Jason Laskay as Scrimshaw's Henchman
- Frank Miller as Scrimshaw's Henchman
- Shawn Nelson as Wendell
- Christine Avila as Lab Technician
- Alexandra Borrie as Lab Technician
- Jenny Gago as Lab Technician
- Robert Gounley as Lab Technician
- Grainger Hines as Rusty
- Mike Garibaldi as Cop
- Richard McGonagle as Cop
- Terence McGovern as Travel Agent
- Robert Neches as Lab Guard
- Rance Howard as Supermarket Customer
- Chuck Jones as Supermarket Customer
- Laura Waterbury as Supermarket Customer
- Kurt Braunreiter as Lab Assault Henchman
- Robert Gray as Lab Assault Henchman
- Brewster Sears as Lab Assault Henchman
- Alan Blumenfeld as Man with Camera
- Jeffrey Boam as Lydia's Interviewee
- Janie Squire as Stewardess
- Paul Barselou as Man on Plane
- John Miranda as Man in Elevator
- Jordan Benjamin as Little Kid in Mall
- Roberto Ramirez as Chef
- Virginia Boyle as Shopping Lady
- Herb Mitchell as Camera Store Clerk
- John Harwood as Lab Henchman
- Neil Ross as Pod Computer (voice)
- Charles Aidman as Speaker at Banquet
- Joe Dante as Vectorscope Employee (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 233
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 | 23 | 32 |
| 6 to 10 | 2 | 29 |
| 11 to 15 | 3 | 29 |
| 16 to 20 | 3 | 25 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 3 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 4 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 3 |
| 41 to 45 | 2 | 12 |
| 46 to 50 | 5 | 24 |
| 51 to 55 | 2 | 27 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 4 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 43 |
| 66 to 70 | 3 | 13 |
| 71 to 75 | 5 | 32 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 33 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 20 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 36 |
| 91 to 95 | 4 | 20 |
| 96 to 100 | 5 | 10 |
| 101 to 105 | 5 | 21 |
| 106 to 110 | 4 | 10 |
| 111 to 115 | 18 | 32 |
| 116 to 120 | 5 | 8 |
| 121 to 125 | 7 | 20 |
| 126 to 130 | 4 | 7 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 9 |
| 136 to 140 | 16 | 14 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 24 |
| 146 to 150 | 6 | 28 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 5 |
| 156 to 160 | 10 | 49 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 2 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 2 |
| 171 to 175 | 10 | 4 |
| 176 to 180 | 16 | 19 |
| 181 to 185 | 8 | 9 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 5 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 6 |
| 196 to 200 | 3 | 4 |
| 201 to 205 | 1 | 4 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 2 |
| 211 to 215 | 1 | 7 |
| 216 to 220 | 0 | 5 |
| 221 to 225 | 0 | 10 |
| 226 to 230 | 10 | 32 |
| 231 to 233 | 0 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
CANKER: Engage the PEM 5000! TECHNICIAN: PEM functional. CANKER: Lower the Miniaturization Cone!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
181 lines from women, 741 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 34 men in the cast. 4 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 973.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 98 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (1,478), men 82% (6,529). Women have 20% 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
3
Two men
66
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joe Dante (man)
- Written by
- Jeffrey Boam (man), Chip Proser (gender not listed)
- Story by
- Chip Proser (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Michael Finnell (man)
- Shot by
- Andrew Laszlo (man)
- Edited by
- Kent Beyda (man)
- Music by
- Jerry Goldsmith (man)
- Production design by
- James H. Spencer (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosanna Norton (woman)
- Cast by
- Mike Fenton (man), Jane Feinberg (woman), Judy Taylor (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 10 men
-
Production
3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Meg Ryan 25, Wendy Schaal 32, Fiona Lewis 40
Men
Dennis Quaid 33, Robert Picardo 33, Martin Short 37, Harold Sylvester 38, Vernon Wells 41, William Schallert 64, Kevin McCarthy 73
Exhibit H: the money
It made 96% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $27 million
- Box office
- $25.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 233 scenes and 973 lines of dialogue. How the test works
