Fails the Bechdel test
Liar Liar
1997. Directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Fletcher Reede, a fast talking attorney, habitual liar, and divorced father is an incredibly successful lawyer who has built his career by lying. He has a habit of giving precedence to his job and always breaking promises to be with his young son Max, but Fletcher lets Max down once too often, for missing his own son's birthday party. But until then at 8:15 Max has decided to make an honest man out of him as he wishes for one whole day his dad couldn't tell a lie. When the wish comes true all Fletcher can do is tell the truth and cannot tell one lie. Uh-oh for Fletcher Reede.
- Released
- 21 Mar 1997
- Genres
- Comedy, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Fletcher 370 lines, man
- Audrey 83 lines, woman
- Max 64 lines, man
- Judge Stevens 53 lines, man
- Virginia 46 lines
- Greta 40 lines, woman
- Jerry 28 lines, man
- Miranda 19 lines, woman
- Dana 18 lines, woman
- Philip 18 lines, man
Full cast, 71 people
- Jim Carrey as Fletcher Reede
- Maura Tierney as Audrey Reede
- Justin Cooper as Max Reede
- Cary Elwes as Jerry
- Anne Haney as Greta
- Amanda Donohoe as Miranda
- Swoosie Kurtz as Dana Appleton
- Jason Bernard as Judge Marshall Stevens
- Krista Allen as Lady in Elevator
- Jennifer Tilly as Samantha Cole
- Mitchell Ryan as Mr. Allan
- Christopher Mayer as Kenneth Falk
- Eric Pierpoint as Richard Cole
- Randall 'Tex' Cobb as Skull
- Cheri Oteri as Jane
- SW Fisher as Pete
- Ben Lemon as Randy
- Jarrad Paul as Zit Boy
- Marianne Muellerleile as Ms. Berry
- Stephen James Carver as Police Officer
- Don Keefer as Beggar at Courthouse
- Paul Roache as Beggar at Office
- Randy Oglesby as Detective Bryson
- Charlie Dell as Restroom Man
- Jim Jansen as Pilot
- Terry Rhoads as Co-Pilot
- Michael Leopard as Tow Yard Employee
- Charles Walker as Skycap
- Ed Trotta as Mechanic
- Ernest Perry Jr. as Bailiff
- Skip O'Brien as Court Guard
- Tony Carreiro as Cop at Airpot
- Amanda Carlin as Publicist
- Matthew Michael Goodall as Cole Child
- Samantha Heyman as Cole Child
- Anthony Lee as Fred
- Eric Sharp as Sharpo the Clown
- Christine Avila as Lupe
- Hope Allen as Playground Teacher
- Carrie Armstrong as Stenographer
- Craig Barnett as Deputy
- Brandi Burkett as Flight Attendant
- Charles Emmett as Macho Attorney
- Steven M. Gagnon as Jail Guard
- Moon Jones as Jail Guard
- Rick Hill as Jail Guard
- Mike Grief as Driver in Van
- Matthew Arkin as Colleague in Elevator
- Kelly Aluise as Passenger on Plane
- Richard Jones as Passenger on Plane
- Dennis Napolitano as Piano Player
- Michael Adler as Conference Room Attorney
- Joe Barnaba as Conference Room Attorney
- Benjamin Brown as Conference Room Attorney
- Mark Chaet as Conference Room Attorney
- Catherine Evans as Conference Room Attorney
- Colleen Fitzpatrick as Conference Room Attorney
- David Fresco as Conference Room Attorney
- Sue Goodman as Conference Room Attorney
- Michael Kostroff as Conference Room Attorney
- Howard S. Miller as Conference Room Attorney
- Edward Amuwa as Child at Party and School
- Ashley Monique Clark as Child at Party and School
- Derrick Friedman as Child at Party and School
- David Kikuta as Child at Party and School
- Oliver Kindred as Child at Party and School
- Patrick McTavish as Child at Party and School
- Sara Paxton as Child at Party and School
- Ashley Rumph as Child at Party and School
- Jacob Stein as Child at Party and School
- Mercedes Kastner as Child at Party and School
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 85
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 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 to 4 | 2 | 13 |
| 5 to 6 | 8 | 20 |
| 7 to 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 16 |
| 11 to 12 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 to 14 | 15 | 20 |
| 15 to 16 | 3 | 6 |
| 17 to 18 | 8 | 25 |
| 19 to 20 | 3 | 14 |
| 21 to 22 | 13 | 12 |
| 23 to 24 | 5 | 2 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 to 32 | 7 | 34 |
| 33 to 34 | 4 | 17 |
| 35 to 36 | 12 | 17 |
| 37 to 38 | 7 | 9 |
| 39 to 40 | 13 | 16 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 3 | 24 |
| 45 to 46 | 8 | 19 |
| 47 to 48 | 6 | 61 |
| 49 to 50 | 1 | 12 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 5 |
| 53 to 54 | 15 | 18 |
| 55 to 56 | 3 | 5 |
| 57 to 58 | 4 | 23 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 13 |
| 61 to 62 | 8 | 83 |
| 63 to 64 | 2 | 3 |
| 65 to 66 | 3 | 7 |
| 67 to 68 | 3 | 5 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 15 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 21 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 11 |
| 75 to 76 | 1 | 3 |
| 77 to 78 | 1 | 4 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 to 82 | 4 | 1 |
| 83 to 84 | 6 | 23 |
| 85 to 85 | 1 | 11 |
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, 23 are women's.
181 lines from women, 608 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
22 women and 38 men in the cast. 11 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 907.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 56 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (1,831), men 78% (6,638). Women have 23% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
1
Two men
60
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom Shadyac (man)
- Written by
- Paul Guay (man), Stephen Mazur (man)
- Produced by
- Brian Grazer (man)
- Shot by
- Russell Boyd (man)
- Edited by
- Don Zimmerman (man)
- Music by
- John Debney (man)
- Production design by
- Linda DeScenna (woman)
- Costumes by
- Judy L. Ruskin (woman)
- Cast by
- Ron Surma (man), Junie Lowry-Johnson (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 12 men, 13 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 8 men, 10 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 12 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Krista Allen 25, Maura Tierney 32, Amanda Donohoe 34, Jennifer Tilly 38, Swoosie Kurtz 52, Anne Haney 63
Men
Justin Cooper 8, Cary Elwes 34, Jim Carrey 35, Jason Bernard 58
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $45 million
- Box office
- $303 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 85 scenes and 907 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
