Fails the Bechdel test
Life
1999. Directed by Ted Demme, written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 5 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
In the mid-1990s, two inmates bury the burned bodies of two lifers at Mississippi's infamous Parchman Farm as a third old-timer relates their story. They'd served 65 years for a murder they didn't commit, framed by a local sheriff while buying moonshine whiskey for a Manhattan club owner to whom they owed money. Flashbacks depict how this odd couple was thrown together (Ray is a fast-talking con man, and Claude is a serious man about to start work as a bank teller), the loss of Ray's watch (sterling silver, from his daddy), the murder and trial, the hardships of Parchman, and the love/hate relationship of Claude and Ray as they spend 65 years bickering and looking for a way to escape.
- Released
- 16 Apr 1999
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ray 298 lines, man
- Claude 279 lines, man
- Dillard 42 lines, man
- Willie 36 lines, man
- Pike 28 lines, man
- Wilkins 27 lines, man
- Poker Face 23 lines, man
- Hoppin' Bob 20 lines, man
- Cookie 18 lines, man
- Radio 18 lines, man
Full cast, 65 people
- Eddie Murphy as Rayford Gibson
- Martin Lawrence as Claude Banks
- Obba Babatundé as Willie Long
- Nick Cassavetes as Sergeant Dillard
- Anthony Anderson as Cookie
- Barry Shabaka Henley as Pokerface
- Brent Jennings as Hoppin' Bob
- Bernie Mac as Jangle Leg
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Biscuit
- Michael Taliferro as Goldmouth
- Guy Torry as Radio
- Bokeem Woodbine as Can't Get Right
- Ned Beatty as Dexter Wilkins
- Lisa Nicole Carson as Sylvia
- O'Neal Compton as Superintendant Abernathy
- Noah Emmerich as Stan Blocker
- Rick James as Spanky Johnson
- Clarence Williams III as Winston Hancock
- Heavy D as Jake
- Bonz Malone as Leon
- Ned Vaughn as Young Sheriff Pike
- R. Lee Ermey as Older Sheriff Pike
- Sanaa Lathan as Daisy
- Allyson Call as Young Mae Rose
- Poppy Montgomery as Older Mae Rose Abernathy
- James D. Brubaker as Judge
- Walter K. Jordan as Slim
- Brooks Almy as Billy's Mama
- Hal Havins as Billy
- Hildy Brooks as Nurse Doherty
- Kenn Whitaker as Isaac
- Ernie Lee Banks as Bathroom Attendant
- David Alexander as Doctor
- Johnny Brown as Blind Reverend Clay
- Armelia McQueen as Mrs. Clay
- Todd Everett as Deputy at Mansion
- Don Harvey as Man with Lantern
- Venus DeMilo Thomas as Juke Joint Waitress
- Zaid Farid as Shady Cardplayer
- Keith Burke as Shady Cardplayer
- Kenneth White as Deputy
- Leonard O. Turner as Superintendant Burke
- Augie Blunt as Man in Prison
- Quantae Love as Trustee at Line
- Sean Lampkin as Trustee at Line
- James Emory Jr. as Goldmouth's Son
- Bill Gratton as Fire Inspector
- Reamy Hall as Mrs. Dillard
- George Hartmann as Prison Guard
- Zack Helvey as Captain Tom Burnette
- Haskell V. Anderson III as Junkie (as Haskell Vaughn Anderson III)
- Kimble Jemison as Gang Banger
- Jordan Mahome as Gang Banger
- William S. Taylor as Bagman (as William Taylor)
- Jay Arlen Jones as Bagman
- Oscar Jordan as Juke Joint Guitarist
- Jordan Lund as Funeral Chaplain
- Ronald Moss as Bouncer (as Ronald Lee Moss)
- Betty Murphy as Mrs. Abernathy
- Walter Powell as Waiter (as Walter Powell Jr.)
- Christophe Prévost as Pilot (as Chris Prevost)
- Dawn Robinson as Club Crooner
- Steve Boyles as Mule Cart Driver
- Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston as Henchman (uncredited)
- Leon Turner as Arm That Went Up (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 130
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 | 1 | 15 |
| 4 to 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 16 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 40 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 62 |
| 16 to 18 | 9 | 35 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 4 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 36 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 23 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 6 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 93 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 39 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 21 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 42 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 32 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 9 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 4 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 4 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 10 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 6 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 27 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 7 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 36 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 10 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 15 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 30 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 48 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 19 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 18 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 32 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 49 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 18 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 32 |
| 121 to 123 | 4 | 4 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 4 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 11 |
| 130 to 130 | 0 | 21 |
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, 5 are women's.
49 lines from women, 940 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 49 men in the cast. 5 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 1,014.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 238 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 4% of the words (527), men 96% (11,615). Women have 5% 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
88
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ted Demme (man)
- Written by
- Robert Ramsey (man), Matthew Stone (man)
- Produced by
- Eddie Murphy (man), Brian Grazer (man)
- Shot by
- Geoffrey Simpson (man)
- Edited by
- Jeffrey Wolf (man)
- Music by
- Wyclef Jean (man)
- Production design by
- Dan Bishop (man)
- Cast by
- Margery Simkin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Anthony Anderson 28, Martin Lawrence 34, Michael Taliferro 37, Eddie Murphy 38, Nick Cassavetes 39, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. 39, Bernie Mac 41, Barry Shabaka Henley 44, Obba Babatundé 47, Brent Jennings 48
Exhibit G: the money
It made 92% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $80 million
- Box office
- $73.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 130 scenes and 1,014 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
