Passes the Bechdel test

John Q

Name: John Q
Released: 2002

2002. Directed by Nick Cassavetes, written by James Kearns.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
21 women characters. 13 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 166.
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

John Quincy Archibald's son Michael collapsed while playing baseball as a result of heart failure. He and his wife Denise rush him to a hospital emergency room where John is informed that Michael's only hope is a transplant. Unfortunately, John's insurance won't cover the transplant. Out of options, he takes the emergency room staff and patients hostage until the surgeons come to an agreement to do the transplant.

Released: 15 Feb 2002
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 30 / 100
Awards: 2 wins & 8 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

J.Q 121 lines, man
Grimes 105 lines, man
Denise 74 lines, woman
Dr. Turner 56 lines, man
Mike 52 lines, man
Mitch 51 lines, man
Monroe 38 lines, man
Lampley 33 lines, man
Payne 33 lines, woman
Maguire 23 lines, man

Full cast, 63 people

Denzel Washington as John Quincy Archibald
James Woods as Dr. Raymond Turner
Kimberly Elise as Denise Archibald
Robert Duvall as Lt. Frank Grimes
Shawn Hatosy as Mitch Quigley
Eddie Griffin as Lester Matthews
Kevin Connolly as Steve Maguire
Ethan Suplee as Guard Max Conlin
Ray Liotta as Chief Gus Monroe
Anne Heche as Rebecca Payne
Laura Harring as Gina Palumbo
Heather Wahlquist as Julie Bird
Daniel E. Smith as Mike Archibald
David Thornton as Jimmy Palumbo
Paul Johansson as Tuck Lampley
Obba Babatundé as Sgt. Moody
Troy Byer as Miriam Smith
Troy Winbush as Steve Smith
Martha Chaves as Rosa Gonzales
Gabriela Oltean as Beautiful BMW Driver
Ron Annabelle as Tow Truck Driver
Barry G. King as Employee Manager
Larissa Laskin as Dr. Ellen Klein
Vanessa Branch as Registered Nurse
Stephanie Moore as Admitting Nurse
James Finnerty as Nurse Reggie
Michael Jaye as Insurance Rep
Yanna McIntosh as State Employee
Linda Massad as Social Services Rep
Lester Mathews as Human Services Rep
Noam Jenkins as Medicaid Official
Allegra Fulton as Sick Girl's Mother
Darrin Brown as TV Buyer
Shera Danese as Wife of Heart Transplant Patient
Kirsta Teague as Dr. Turner's Assistant
Rick Sood as Panicked E.R. Doctor
Scott Bloom as Desk Guard
Dina Spybey-Waters as Debby Utley
Carlos Diaz as Paramedic #1
Joe Duer as Paramedic #2
Simon Sinn as Fong
Jeff Douglas as Computer Cop
Keram Malicki-Sánchez as Freddy B.
Philip Williams as Wally Pitoniak
Nigel Shawn Williams as News Anchor
Frank Cassavetes as Sniper
Colin Evans as Videographer
Angelo Tsarouchas as Barricade Cop
Marcia Johnson as Medical Transplant #1
Vijay Mehta as Medical Transplant #2
Andrew Schaff as U.N.O.S. Official
Malcolm Nefsky as Nick
Jay Leno as Jay Leno
Gloria Allred as Gloria Allred
Larry King as Larry King
Arianna Huffington as Arianna Huffington
Ted Demme as Ted Demme
Nas as Nas
Bill Maher as Bill Maher
Claire Rankin as Public Defender
Philip Craig as Judge K. Ploucha
Gerry Quigley as Jury Foreman
Jane Luk as O.R. Nurse (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 166

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	0	0
5 to 8	11	12
9 to 12	6	18
13 to 16	0	8
17 to 20	8	6
21 to 24	5	5
25 to 28	39	22
29 to 32	18	5
33 to 36	4	14
37 to 40	0	0
41 to 44	0	1
45 to 48	4	1
49 to 52	4	36
53 to 56	5	39
57 to 60	6	79
61 to 64	11	45
65 to 68	4	20
69 to 72	13	40
73 to 76	12	8
77 to 80	0	7
81 to 84	3	48
85 to 88	1	7
89 to 92	0	5
93 to 96	4	0
97 to 100	7	6
101 to 104	0	4
105 to 108	0	6
109 to 112	0	3
113 to 116	0	5
117 to 120	0	4
121 to 124	0	5
125 to 128	4	35
129 to 132	1	6
133 to 136	9	48
137 to 140	1	17
141 to 144	0	8
145 to 148	3	9
149 to 152	4	3
153 to 156	1	0
157 to 160	1	18
161 to 164	4	20
165 to 166	0	0

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.

DENISE: Let's go, Orioles! GINA: Pitcher's got a rubber arm!

JULIE: But the list. DR. KLEIN: What about an El-vad?

DEBBY: Wow. JULIE: Oh my God.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 24 are women's.

193 lines from women, 623 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

21 women and 36 men in the cast. 13 women and 31 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 50 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 21% of the words (2,083), men 79% (7,989). Women have 24% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes (man)
Written by: James Kearns (man)
Produced by: Oren Koules (man), Mark Burg (man)
Shot by: Rogier Stoffers (man), Michael Kohnhorst (gender not listed)
Edited by: Dede Allen (woman)
Music by: Aaron Zigman (man)
Production design by: Stefania Cella (woman)
Costumes by: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor (woman)
Cast by: Robin D. Cook (woman), Matthew Barry (man), Nancy Green-Keyes (woman)