Passes the Bechdel test
Inventing the Abbotts
1997. Directed by Pat O'Connor, written by Sue Miller and Ken Hixon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 156. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Set in the 1950s, Inventing the Abbotts is a dramatic look at the life of two boys from the wrong side of the tracks and their interaction with the three daughters of local aristocrat Lloyd Abbott. The boys, Jacey and Doug Holt, have only three things in common: their family, table tennis and chasing the beautiful Abbott sisters. Their father, a reckless risk-taker, lost his life through a wager with Lloyd Abbott, his then business partner.
- Released
- 04 Apr 1997
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Doug 360 lines, man
- Jacey 194 lines, man
- Pamela 189 lines, woman
- Helen 110 lines, woman
- Alice 44 lines, woman
- Lloyd 42 lines, man
- Eleanor 37 lines, woman
- Joan 13 lines, woman
- Victor 11 lines, man
- Clerk #2 6 lines, woman
Full cast, 24 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Doug Holt
- Liv Tyler as Pamela Abbott
- Jennifer Connelly as Eleanor Abbott
- Billy Crudup as Jacey Holt
- Joanna Going as Alice Abbott
- Kathy Baker as Helen Holt
- Will Patton as Lloyd Abbott
- Michael Sutton as Steve
- Garrett M. Brown as Webb Crosby
- Barbara Williams as Joan Abbott
- Alessandro Nivola as Peter Vanlaningham
- Nicole M. Vassallo as Giggling Girl #1
- Amanda Sherman as Giggling Girl #2
- Shawn Hatosy as Victor
- Julie Benz as Co-ed
- Zoe McLellan as Sandy
- David Frazier as Ted
- Margaret Ash as Store Clerk
- Clive Rosengren as Principal
- Susan Barnes as Mrs. Porter
- Andrea Post as Waitress
- Jack Cummins as Funeral Director
- David Heckendorn as Pre-Record Singer
- Michael Keaton as Narrator/Older Doug Holt (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 156
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 | 14 | 26 |
| 5 to 8 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 to 16 | 2 | 36 |
| 17 to 20 | 10 | 8 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 12 |
| 25 to 28 | 7 | 20 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 21 |
| 33 to 36 | 19 | 17 |
| 37 to 40 | 21 | 17 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 17 |
| 49 to 52 | 5 | 2 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 0 |
| 57 to 60 | 15 | 29 |
| 61 to 64 | 17 | 36 |
| 65 to 68 | 9 | 11 |
| 69 to 72 | 13 | 19 |
| 73 to 76 | 13 | 5 |
| 77 to 80 | 37 | 34 |
| 81 to 84 | 20 | 23 |
| 85 to 88 | 3 | 3 |
| 89 to 92 | 35 | 39 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 2 |
| 97 to 100 | 21 | 17 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 2 |
| 109 to 112 | 10 | 13 |
| 113 to 116 | 20 | 26 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 7 |
| 121 to 124 | 5 | 5 |
| 125 to 128 | 25 | 27 |
| 129 to 132 | 4 | 25 |
| 133 to 136 | 11 | 12 |
| 137 to 140 | 23 | 21 |
| 141 to 144 | 11 | 15 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 33 |
| 149 to 152 | 2 | 17 |
| 153 to 156 | 7 | 8 |
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.
HELEN: Hello? HELEN: Joan. How are you? JOAN: May I have a word with you, Helen? HELEN: Of course, come in.
HELEN: Pamela, are you all right? PAMELA: I need to talk to...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
404 lines from women, 622 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 12 men in the cast. 10 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 1,028.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 49 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 42% of the words (3,839), men 58% (5,376). Women have 39% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
7
Two men
32
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Pat O'Connor (man)
- Written by
- Ken Hixon (man)
- Produced by
- Brian Grazer (man), Ron Howard (man), Janet Meyers (woman)
- Shot by
- Kenneth MacMillan (man)
- Edited by
- Ray Lovejoy (man)
- Music by
- Michael Kamen (man)
- Production design by
- Gary Frutkoff (man)
- Costumes by
- Aggie Guerard Rodgers (woman)
- Cast by
- Risa Bramon Garcia (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 13 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 11 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 5 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Liv Tyler 19, Jennifer Connelly 26, Joanna Going 33, Barbara Williams 44, Kathy Baker 46
Men
Joaquin Phoenix 22, Michael Sutton 26, Billy Crudup 28, Will Patton 42, Garrett M. Brown 48
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $5.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 156 scenes and 1,028 lines of dialogue. How the test works
