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Passes the Bechdel test

Larry Crowne

2011. Directed by Tom Hanks, written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    19 women characters. 9 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 7 scenes out of 143.
  3. 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.

Poster for Larry Crowne

The film

Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he'd worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There, he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans, and the overlooked, all trying to find a better future for themselves,... often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher, Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.

Released
01 Jul 2011
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.1 / 10
Metascore
41 / 100
Awards
4 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Larry Crowne 213 lines, man
  2. Mercedes Tainot 147 lines, woman
  3. Talia 79 lines, woman
  4. Lamarr 39 lines, man
  5. Dean Tainot 32 lines, man
  6. Frances Taylor-Briegh 27 lines, woman
  7. Strang 21 lines, man
  8. Dibiasi 20 lines, man
  9. Perry 19 lines, man
  10. Dell Gordo 16 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
  • Tom Hanks as Larry Crowne
  • Julia Roberts as Mercedes Tainot
  • Bryan Cranston as Dean Tainot
  • Cedric the Entertainer as Lamar
  • Taraji P. Henson as B'Ella
  • Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Talia
  • Wilmer Valderrama as Dell Gordo
  • Pam Grier as Frances
  • Rita Wilson as Wilma Q. Gammelgaard
  • George Takei as Dr. Matsutani
  • Rob Riggle as Jack Strang
  • Ian Gomez as Frank
  • Holmes Osborne as Dave Busik
  • Sarah Mahoney as Samantha
  • Roxana Ortega as Alvarez
  • Randall Park as Trainee Wong
  • Brady Rubin as Dorothy Genkos
  • Alex Quijano as Team Leader #1
  • Tina Huang as Team Leader #2
  • E-Kan Soong as Team Leader #3
  • Tarina Pouncy as Team Leader #4
  • Sy Richardson as Avery
  • Julie Wagner as Vacuum Shopper
  • Erin Underwood as Mom with Baby
  • Dale Dye as Cox
  • Barry Sobel as Cubby
  • Claudia Stedelin as Vicky Hurley
  • Bob Stephenson as Andrews
  • Tom Budge as Stan
  • Rami Malek as Steve Dibiasi
  • Malcolm Barrett as Dave Mack
  • Grace Gummer as Natalie Calimeris
  • Maria Canals-Barrera as Lala Pinedo
  • A.B. Fofana as Chester
  • Sarah Levy as Eli
  • Julia Cho as Tori
  • Chad W. Smathers as Michael
  • David L. Murphy as Bud
  • Carly Reeves as Sal
  • Nia Vardalos as Map Genie (voice)
  • Herbert Siguenza as Raul
  • Ric Salinas as Nick
  • Richard Montoya as Carlos
  • Joshua Bitton as Officer Baker
  • Jon Seda as Officer Diamond
  • Jack Milo as Neighbor with Dog
  • Chet Hanks as Pizza Delivery Boy
  • Biff Henderson as Cappy

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 143

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 335
4 to 6625
7 to 9431
10 to 1247
13 to 1502
16 to 1800
19 to 2109
22 to 2400
25 to 2708
28 to 3000
31 to 33017
34 to 36011
37 to 3979
40 to 4243
43 to 45017
46 to 48814
49 to 5198
52 to 541420
55 to 57410
58 to 601118
61 to 6392
64 to 6621
67 to 6986
70 to 72313
73 to 7509
76 to 7808
79 to 811210
82 to 84128
85 to 87102
88 to 9065
91 to 9321
94 to 961212
97 to 99119
100 to 1022315
103 to 1051315
106 to 10801
109 to 1111125
112 to 1141311
115 to 11764
118 to 12075
121 to 1233314
124 to 12600
127 to 12957
130 to 132620
133 to 13544
136 to 13895
139 to 14191
142 to 14300

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.
CALIMERIS: With the push-up added, the 4-count Burpie becomes the 6-count Burpie and works out the pecs and biceps. It's an all-in-one exercise perfect… MERCEDES TAINOT: We now all know how to Burpie. Thank you.
FRANCES TAYLOR-BRIEGH: Ethel's here, Lucy. What's going on? MERCEDES TAINOT: When was the last time you looked at your life and saw nothing but fraud and desperation? FRANCES TAYLOR-BRIEGH: Mercy. You're an idol to me. Hearing you talk like that is MERCEDES TAINOT: Well I'm joking of course!!!
MERCEDES TAINOT: I loved these shoes once. Stupid shoes. TALIA: Lance! Chick alert! TALIA: You are not going to believe how Fate meets cute!
MERCEDES TAINOT: No. MERCEDES TAINOT: Jesus Christ. TALIA: And I've been calling you 'Lance'.
MERCEDES TAINOT: Fine. 2 minutes on Consumerism. CALIMERIS: 'Malpity Hoople.' MERCEDES TAINOT: No idea. Just pick another.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 41 are women's.

300 lines from women, 427 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

19 women and 29 men in the cast. 9 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 793. 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 42% of the words (2,613), men 58% (3,545). Women have 41% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Tom Hanks (man)
Written by
Nia Vardalos (woman), Tom Hanks (man)
Produced by
Tom Hanks (man), Gary Goetzman (man)
Shot by
Philippe Rousselot (man)
Edited by
Alan Cody (man)
Music by
James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by
Victor Kempster (man)
Costumes by
Albert Wolsky (man)
Cast by
Jeanne McCarthy (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    2 women, 6 men

  • Art

    2 women, 2 men

  • Other crew

    1 women, 3 men

  • Camera

    1 women, 2 men

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 1 men

  • Writing

    1 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 45 on average. Men: 52 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Gugu Mbatha-Raw 28, Taraji P. Henson 40, Julia Roberts 43, Rita Wilson 54, Pam Grier 62

Men

Wilmer Valderrama 31, Cedric the Entertainer 47, Tom Hanks 54, Bryan Cranston 55, George Takei 74

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.5 times what it cost.

Budget
$30 million
Box office
$75.1 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 143 scenes and 793 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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