Passes the Bechdel test

Law Abiding Citizen

Name: Law Abiding Citizen
Released: 2009

2009. Directed by F. Gary Gray, written by Kurt Wimmer.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 211.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Clyde Shelton's family is brutally murdered. The ones responsible are caught. However, because of improper procedure, the D.A., Nick Rice only has circumstantial evidence. So he decides to get one of them to testify against the other. When Shelton learns of this, he is not happy. Ten years later, the one who was convicted is being executed but something goes wrong; his execution goes awry and he suffers. They learn that someone tampered with the machine. And the other one is found dead, killed in a gruesome manner. Rice suspects Shelton, so he has him picked up. At first, Shelton agrees to a plea agreement with Rice but changes his mind. It appears that Shelton is not done, it appears he blames the whole system and is declaring war on it going after everyone involved with his family's case. So Rice has to stop him but Shelton is way ahead of him.

Released: 16 Oct 2009
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 34 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Nick 245 lines, man
Clyde 150 lines, man
Dunnigan 63 lines, man
Cantrell 61 lines, man
Kell 40 lines
Sarah 38 lines, woman
Davies 29 lines, man
Darby 26 lines, man
Emma 26 lines, woman
Iger 18 lines, man

Full cast, 65 people

Jamie Foxx as Nick Rice
Gerard Butler as Clyde Alexander Shelton
Colm Meaney as Detective Dunnigan
Bruce McGill as Jonas Cantrell
Leslie Bibb as Sarah Lowell
Michael Irby as Detective Garza
Gregory Itzin as Warden Iger
Regina Hall as Kelly Rice
Emerald-Angel Young as Denise Rice
Brooke Stacy Mills as Clyde's Wife
Christian Stolte as Clarence Darby
Annie Corley as Judge Laura Burch
Richard Portnow as Bill Reynolds
Viola Davis as Mayor April Henry
Michael Kelly as Bray
Josh Stewart as Rupert Ames
Roger Bart as Brian Bringham
Dan Bittner as Sereno
Patrick McDade as Charlie - City Hall Security
Richard Barlow as Older Cop
Greg Young as SWAT Captain
Jim Gushue as SWAT Commando
Anthony Lawton as Trunk Cop
David Villalobos as Print Reporter
Ksenia Hulayev as Clyde's Daughter
Todd Lewis as Cop
Bijean Ngo as Marvelle
Cecelia Ann Birt as Nick's Assistant
Lamont Clayton as FBI Agent
Dave Huddleston as Reporter at Execution
Gabra Zackman as Another Reporter
Brian Anthony Wilson as Homeland Security Supervisor
Stephanie Humphrey as Local Newscaster #1
Tracy Toth as Local Newscaster #2
Jim Fitzpatrick as Messenger
Lawrence Laravela as Bailiff #1
Barbara Lambert as Bailiff #2
Nakia Dillard as City Hall Sheriff
Keith Moyer as Inmate Jeremy (uncredited)
Robert Bizik as Deputy Police Chief (uncredited)
Ian Bonner as Det. Rick Collins (uncredited)
Jennifer Butler as Recital Guest (uncredited)
Gregory R. Campbell as EMS (uncredited)
Bill Chemerka as Lawyer (uncredited)
Damien Colletti as Officer Bruno (uncredited)
Brian Distance as Nick's Security Detail (uncredited)
Justin Doescher as Cantrell's Security (uncredited)
Lewis Duval as Audience Member (uncredited)
Robert Eckard as Convict (uncredited)
Phil. E. Eichinger as Mourner (uncredited)
John Charles Hunt as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Steven J. Klaszky as Homeland Security Agent (uncredited)
Robert Montano as Attorney (uncredited)
Matt Nicholas as Crime Scene Investigator (uncredited)
Eddie Noone as Hero Police Officer Cimino (uncredited)
Michael Nutter as Official with Bible (uncredited)
Joe Pawlenko as Hero Guard (uncredited)
Lou Pacheco as Corrections Officer (uncredited)
Vincent Riviezzo as Police Commissioner (uncredited)
W. Keith Scott as SWAT (uncredited)
William Shipman as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Towanda Underdue as Reporter (uncredited)
David Von Roehm as Reporter (uncredited)
Matt von Siegel as Officer Urban (uncredited)
Damion J. Williams as Police Officer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 211

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	0	4
6 to 10	7	43
11 to 15	0	27
16 to 20	10	8
21 to 25	4	32
26 to 30	1	17
31 to 35	0	14
36 to 40	5	22
41 to 45	1	2
46 to 50	0	1
51 to 55	0	3
56 to 60	0	6
61 to 65	9	78
66 to 70	1	47
71 to 75	1	9
76 to 80	6	6
81 to 85	0	8
86 to 90	0	1
91 to 95	0	1
96 to 100	0	6
101 to 105	3	35
106 to 110	2	27
111 to 115	3	12
116 to 120	2	59
121 to 125	2	9
126 to 130	6	23
131 to 135	0	48
136 to 140	5	12
141 to 145	0	2
146 to 150	1	3
151 to 155	0	0
156 to 160	0	0
161 to 165	0	3
166 to 170	4	14
171 to 175	0	6
176 to 180	0	1
181 to 185	1	3
186 to 190	0	7
191 to 195	0	6
196 to 200	0	17
201 to 205	0	18
206 to 210	0	4
211 to 211	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 scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

SARAH: Hey Kell! Hey Emma, how's my dynamo? EMMA: Hi, Sarah!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 10 are women's.

74 lines from women, 644 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 33 men in the cast. 6 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 33 of 844. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 60 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (882), men 90% (8,281).

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

1 of the 14 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: F. Gary Gray (man)
Written by: Kurt Wimmer (man)
Produced by: Gerard Butler (man), Kurt Wimmer (man), Mark Gill (man), Lucas Foster (man), Alan Siegel (man)
Shot by: Jonathan Sela (man)
Edited by: Tariq Anwar (man)
Music by: Brian Tyler (man)
Production design by: Alex Hajdu (man)
Costumes by: Jeffrey Kurland (man)
Cast by: Deanna Brigidi (woman), Joseph Middleton (man)