Passes the Bechdel test
Intolerable Cruelty
2003. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and John Romano.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 52. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Miles Massey, a prominent Los Angeles divorce attorney has everything--and in some cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list, a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad contract (the Massey pre-nup) named after him, he's reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success, boredom has set in and he's looking for new challenges. All that changes when Miles meets his match in the devastating Marylin Rexroth. Marylin is the soon-to-be ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth, a wealthy real estate developer and habitual philanderer. With the help of hard charging private investigator Gus Petch, she has Rex nailed and is looking forward to the financial independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to Miles' considerable skills, she ends up with nothing. Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle. Miles and his unflappable associate, Wrigley, unwittingly dig themselves in deeper and deeper as they go head-to-head with Marylin. Underhanded tactics, deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marylin and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes.
- Released
- 10 Oct 2003
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Miles 334 lines, man
- Marylin 239 lines, woman
- Ruth 45 lines, woman
- Rex 39 lines, man
- Sarah 37 lines, woman
- Kenneth 35 lines
- Wrigley 34 lines, man
- Doyle 30 lines, man
- Ramona 20 lines, woman
- Voice 14 lines
Full cast, 45 people
- George Clooney as Miles
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marilyn
- Geoffrey Rush as Donovan Donaly
- Cedric the Entertainer as Gus Petch
- Edward Herrmann as Rex Rexroth
- Paul Adelstein as Wrigley
- Richard Jenkins as Freddy Bender
- Billy Bob Thornton as Howard D. Doyle
- Julia Duffy as Sarah Sorkin
- Jonathan Hadary as Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy
- Tom Aldredge as Herb Myerson
- Stacey Travis as Bonnie Donaly
- Jack Kyle as Ollie Olerud
- Irwin Keyes as Wheezy Joe
- Judith Drake as Mrs. Gutman
- George Ives as Mrs. Gutman's Lawyer
- Booth Colman as Gutman Trial Judge
- Kristin Dattilo as Rex's Young Woman
- Wendle Josepher as Miles' Receptionist
- Mary Pat Gleason as Nero's Waitress
- Mia Cottet as Ramona Barcelona
- Kiersten Warren as Claire O'Mara
- Rosey Brown as Gus's Pal
- Ken Sagoes as Gus's Pal
- Dale E. Turner as Gus's Pal
- Douglas Fisher as Maitre d'
- Nicholas Shaffer as Waiter
- Isabell O'Connor as Judge Marva Munson
- Mary Gillis as Court Reporter
- Colin Linden as Father Scott
- Julie Osburn as Stewardess
- Gary Marshal as Las Vegas Waiter
- Blake Clark as Convention Secretary
- Allan Trautman as Convention Lawyer
- Kate Luyben as Santa Fe Tart
- Kitana Baker as Santa Fe Tart
- Camille Anderson as Santa Fe Tart
- Tamie Sheffield as Santa Fe Tart
- Bridget Marquardt as Santa Fe Tart
- Emma Harrison as Santa Fe Tart
- John Bliss as Mr. MacKinnon
- Patrick Thomas O'Brien as Bailiff
- Sean Fenton as Bailiff
- Bruce Campbell as Soap Opera Actor on TV (uncredited)
- Royce D. Applegate as Mr. Gutman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 52
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 | 8 | 13 |
| 3 to 4 | 6 | 38 |
| 5 to 6 | 78 | 59 |
| 7 to 8 | 52 | 47 |
| 9 to 10 | 3 | 17 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 14 | 19 | 55 |
| 15 to 16 | 6 | 36 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 5 | 20 |
| 21 to 22 | 9 | 8 |
| 23 to 24 | 30 | 27 |
| 25 to 26 | 31 | 29 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 7 |
| 29 to 30 | 29 | 11 |
| 31 to 32 | 13 | 11 |
| 33 to 34 | 9 | 5 |
| 35 to 36 | 1 | 2 |
| 37 to 38 | 8 | 0 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 10 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 15 | 33 |
| 45 to 46 | 1 | 16 |
| 47 to 48 | 9 | 9 |
| 49 to 50 | 25 | 36 |
| 51 to 52 | 3 | 5 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
RUTH: Yes. Maybe you're right, Miles. Maybe we're being too conservative. Seventy five percent. MARYLIN: Do you need a Tagamet?
MARYLIN: I'm sorry. Where were we? RUTH: We were about to request the primary residence, and thirty percent of the remaining assets.
MARYLIN: Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure. SARAH: That's completely odd. MARYLIN: I know. That's why I accepted. Find out what's up with this clown.
RUTH: Who's that? MARYLIN: Jesus.
RUTH: Is this a lover? MARYLIN: Please!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.
370 lines from women, 487 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 25 men in the cast. 6 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 982.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 35 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 40% of the words (3,624), men 60% (5,344). Women have 43% 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
17
Two men
32
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 21 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joel Coen (man)
- Written by
- Robert Ramsey (man), Matthew Stone (man), Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Story by
- John Romano (man), Robert Ramsey (man), Matthew Stone (man)
- Produced by
- Ethan Coen (man), Brian Grazer (man), John Cameron (man), Robert Graf (man), Jim Whitaker (man), Grant Heslov (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Leslie McDonald (woman)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 8 men
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 7 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Catherine Zeta-Jones 34, Julia Duffy 52
Men
Paul Adelstein 34, Cedric the Entertainer 39, George Clooney 42, Billy Bob Thornton 48, Geoffrey Rush 52, Jonathan Hadary 54, Richard Jenkins 56, Edward Herrmann 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $60 million
- Box office
- $120 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 52 scenes and 982 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
