Fails the Bechdel test
Leaving Las Vegas
1996. Directed by Mike Figgis, written by John O'Brien and Mike Figgis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Once a successful Hollywood screenwriter, Ben Sanderson is in a quick downward spiral, which is outwardly exhibited by his excessive drinking to the exclusion of all else. After he completes his life in Los Angeles to his satisfaction, which includes him burning all his painful personal memories, Ben decides to move to Las Vegas where he will literally drink himself to death. There, he hires a high end hooker named Sera. Despite it being a less than successful sexual encounter, Sera and Ben feel a connection which eventually turns into love. A lonely woman, Sera has a destructive relationship with her sadistic pimp/lover, Yuri, who has his own dangerous criminal problems. Sera and Ben decide to live together for whatever time they have together, that relationship based on the mutual trust each has for the other in not changing the other's life or path, which outwardly may be more difficult for Sera as it means watching Ben die.
- Released
- 09 Feb 1996
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 32 wins & 30 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ben 214 lines, man
- Sera 190 lines, woman
- Yuri 43 lines, man
- Waitress 10 lines, woman
- Biker Girl 7 lines, woman
- Conventioneer 7 lines, man
- Barman 6 lines, man
- Hostess 6 lines, woman
- Pretty Woman 6 lines, woman
- Smallest College Boy 6 lines, man
Full cast, 43 people
- Nicolas Cage as Ben Sanderson
- Elisabeth Shue as Sera
- Julian Sands as Yuri
- Laurie Metcalf as Landlady
- Richard Lewis as Peter
- Steven Weber as Marc Nussbaum
- Kim Adams as Sheila
- Emily Procter as Debbie
- Stuart Regen as Man At Bar
- Valeria Golino as Terri
- Graham Beckel as L.A. Bartender
- Albert Henderson as Man at Strip Bar
- Shashi Bhatia as Hispanic Prostitute
- Carey Lowell as Bank Teller
- Anne Lange as Business Colleague
- Thomas Kopache as Mr. Simpson
- Vincent Ward as Businessman 1
- Lucinda Jenney as Weird Woman
- French Stewart as Businessman 2
- Ed Lauter as Mobster 3
- Waldemar Kalinowski as Mobster 2
- Mike Figgis as Mobster 1
- David Kriegel as Hotel Manager
- Bill Thompson as Midwest Man At Poolside
- Marek Stabrowski as Pawn Shop Owner
- R. Lee Ermey as Conventioneer
- Mariska Hargitay as Hooker At Bar
- Danny Huston as Barman 2
- David Brisbin as Landlord
- Shawnee Smith as Biker Girl
- Paul Quinn as Biker Guy
- Julian Lennon as Bartender 3 In Biker Bar
- Tracy Thorne as Waitress At Mall
- Bob Rafelson as Man At Mall
- Susan Barnes as Desk Clerk
- Marc Coppola as Dealer
- Michael A. Goorjian as College Boy 1
- Jeremy Jordan as College Boy 2
- Davidlee Willson as College Boy 3
- Xander Berkeley as Cynical Cabbie
- Sergio Premoli as Stetson Man At Casino
- Gordon Michaels as Security Guard
- Lou Rawls as Concerned Cabbie
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 147
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 | 13 |
| 5 to 8 | 5 | 12 |
| 9 to 12 | 10 | 6 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 15 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 24 | 6 | 9 |
| 25 to 28 | 9 | 19 |
| 29 to 32 | 10 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 2 | 4 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 5 | 12 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 64 | 22 | 20 |
| 65 to 68 | 6 | 6 |
| 69 to 72 | 6 | 5 |
| 73 to 76 | 7 | 8 |
| 77 to 80 | 10 | 17 |
| 81 to 84 | 19 | 18 |
| 85 to 88 | 21 | 20 |
| 89 to 92 | 19 | 23 |
| 93 to 96 | 21 | 31 |
| 97 to 100 | 9 | 14 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 5 | 4 |
| 109 to 112 | 11 | 4 |
| 113 to 116 | 1 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 7 | 6 |
| 121 to 124 | 2 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 12 | 12 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 3 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 1 |
| 145 to 147 | 5 | 6 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.
241 lines from women, 310 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 27 men in the cast. 6 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 19 of 566.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 47% of the words (3,397), men 53% (3,887). Women have 44% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
9
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mike Figgis (man)
- Written by
- Mike Figgis (man)
- From the novel by
- John O'Brien (man)
- Produced by
- Lila Cazès (gender not listed), Annie Stewart (woman)
- Shot by
- Declan Quinn (man)
- Edited by
- John Smith (man)
- Music by
- Mike Figgis (man)
- Production design by
- Waldemar Kalinowski (man)
- Cast by
- Carrie Frazier (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 18 men, 13 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 10 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
3 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emily Procter 27, Valeria Golino 30, Elisabeth Shue 32, Laurie Metcalf 40
Men
Nicolas Cage 31, Steven Weber 34, Stuart Regen 36, Julian Sands 37, Richard Lewis 48
Exhibit G: the money
It made 13.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.6 million
- Box office
- $49.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 147 scenes and 566 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
