Passes the Bechdel test

Lethal Weapon 2

Name: Lethal Weapon 2
Released: 1989

1989. Directed by Richard Donner, written by Jeffrey Boam and Shane Black and Warren Murphy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

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

In pursuing some drug dealers detectives Riggs and Murtaugh of the LAPD stumble across a large haul of gold Krugerrands. As a result, they are threatened - the mastermind behind the operation doesn't like them undermining his business. Their enemy is powerful and hard to get at, being a diplomat of a foreign power.

Released: 07 Jul 1989
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 70 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Riggs 219 lines, man
Murtaugh 169 lines, man
Leo 99 lines, man
Rudd 46 lines, man
Jill 28 lines
Benedict 27 lines, man
Murphy 23 lines, man
Envoy 18 lines, man
Wyler 9 lines, man
Hans 8 lines, man

Full cast, 58 people

Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs
Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci as Leo Getz
Joss Ackland as Arjen Rudd
Derrick O'Connor as Pieter Vorstedt
Patsy Kensit as Rika Van Den Haas
Darlene Love as Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe as Rianne Murtaugh
Mark Rolston as Hans
Steve Kahan as Captain Murphy
Jenette Goldstein as Meagan Shapiro
Dean Norris as Tim Cavanaugh
Juney Smith as Tom Wyler
Nestor Serrano as Eddie Estaban
Philip Suriano as Joseph Ragucci
Grand L. Bush as Jerry Collins
Tony Carreiro as Marcelli
Damon Hines as Nick Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith as Carrie Murtaugh
Allan Dean Moore as George
Jack McGee as Carpenter
Paul Tuerpe as Hitman
Philip Maurice Miller as Hitman
Sherman Howard as Hitman
Bruce Young as Hitman
Guy Mack as Hitman
Danny Wynands as Hitman
Pat Skipper as Hitman
Robert Fol as Consulate Guard
Virginia Shannon as Consulate Office Worker
Dan Ondrejko as Consulate Clerk #2
Jim Piddock as Consulate Envoy
Kenneth Tigar as Bomb Squad Leader
Jim Birge as Bomb Squad Cop #2
Patrick Cameron as Bomb Squad Cop #3
Mary Ellen Trainor as Police Psychiatrist
David Marciano as Cop #1
Tommy Hinkley as Cop #2
Norman D. Wilson as Detective in Squad Room
Jeanne McGuire as Computer Operator #1
Catherine Guel as Computer Operator #2
Lionel Douglass as Officer Friesen
James Oliver as Officer Moss
Salim Jaidi as Policeman
Al Weber Jr. as Poolside Card Player
Edward J. Rosen as Poolside Card Player
Jay Della as Poolside Card Player
Marian Collier as Poolside Card Player
Orlando Bonner as Tow Truck Driver
Cynthia Burr as Owner of Honda
J. Mills Goodloe as Eddie (uncredited)
Jorga Caye as Ice Hockey Fan (uncredited)
Lana Houston as Man in Condom Television Commercial (uncredited)
Beau Lotterman as Policeman (uncredited)
Larry Clardy as Policeman (uncredited)
Conrad Hurtt as Squad Room Officer (uncredited)
Bettina M. Johnson as Squad Room Woman (uncredited)
Todd Blood as Street Extra (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% 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

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	0	15
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	1
10 to 12	0	0
13 to 15	0	33
16 to 18	0	30
19 to 21	13	45
22 to 24	0	1
25 to 27	0	42
28 to 30	0	28
31 to 33	0	11
34 to 36	0	45
37 to 39	0	9
40 to 42	0	1
43 to 45	0	2
46 to 48	0	1
49 to 51	0	44
52 to 54	0	26
55 to 57	0	9
58 to 60	0	12
61 to 63	0	22
64 to 66	0	10
67 to 69	0	5
70 to 72	0	33
73 to 75	0	9
76 to 78	0	16
79 to 81	0	4
82 to 84	0	2
85 to 87	0	12
88 to 90	0	12
91 to 93	0	1
94 to 96	0	2
97 to 99	0	3
100 to 102	0	5
103 to 105	0	16
106 to 108	0	20
109 to 111	0	15
112 to 114	0	0
115 to 117	0	25
118 to 120	0	10
121 to 123	0	19
124 to 126	0	4
127 to 129	0	6
130 to 132	0	2
133 to 135	0	15
136 to 138	0	7
139 to 141	0	7
142 to 143	0	15

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.

RIANNE: I looked fat. TRISH: No, you didn't, honey.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 2 are women's.

13 lines from women, 652 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

9 women and 36 men in the cast. 2 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 92 of 733. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 595 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (88), men 99% (6,680). Women have 2% 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

2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Richard Donner (man)
Written by: Jeffrey Boam (man)
Story by: Shane Black (man), Warren Murphy (man)
Produced by: Richard Donner (man), Joel Silver (man)
Shot by: Stephen Goldblatt (man)
Edited by: Stuart Baird (man)
Music by: David Sanborn (man), Eric Clapton (man), Michael Kamen (man)
Production design by: J. Michael Riva (man)
Cast by: Gail Levin (woman), Marion Dougherty (woman)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

3 women, 55 men, 16 not listed
Sound

5 women, 29 men, 14 not listed
Production

6 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
Camera

1 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
Art

1 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
Directing

2 women, 6 men
Costume & Make-Up

1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
Lighting

0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 33 on average. Men: 44 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Patsy Kensit 21, Traci Wolfe 28, Darlene Love 50

Men

Mark Rolston 32, Mel Gibson 33, Danny Glover 42, Joe Pesci 46, Derrick O'Connor 48, Steve Kahan 49, Joss Ackland 61

Exhibit H: the money

It made 9.1 times what it cost.

Budget: $25 million
Box office: $228 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 143 scenes and 733 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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