Passes the Bechdel test
Lone Star
1996. Directed by John Sayles, written by John Sayles.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 15 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 100. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
John Sayles' murder-mystery explores interpersonal and interracial tensions in Rio County, Texas. Sam Deeds is the local sheriff who is called to investigate a 40-year-old skeleton found in the desert....As Sam delves deeper into the town's dark secrets, he begins to learn more about his father, the legendary former sheriff Buddy Deeds, who replaced the corrupt Charlie Wade. While Sam puzzles out the long-ago events surrounding the mystery corpse, he also longs to rekindle a romance with his old high-school flame. Sayles' complex characters are brought together as the tightly-woven plot finally draws to its dramatic close.
- Released
- 21 Jun 1996
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Western
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 15 wins & 20 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sam 241 lines, man
- Pilar 119 lines, woman
- Del 77 lines, man
- Hollis 53 lines, man
- Otis 51 lines, man
- Wade 48 lines, man
- Cliff 45 lines, man
- Mercedes 38 lines, woman
- Athena 33 lines, woman
- Chet 31 lines, man
Full cast, 53 people
- Chris Cooper as Sam Deeds
- Elizabeth Peña as Pilar Cruz
- Kris Kristofferson as Charlie Wade
- Clifton James as Hollis Pogue
- Miriam Colon as Mercedes Cruz
- Ron Canada as Otis Payne
- Joe Morton as Delmore "Del" Payne
- Matthew McConaughey as Buddy Deeds
- Jeff Monahan as Young Hollis
- Gabriel Casseus as Young Otis
- Frances McDormand as Bunny
- LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Priscilla Worth
- Tony Plana as Ray
- Stephen J. Lang as Mikey
- Jesse Borrego as Danny
- Richard Coca as Enrique
- Carmen De Lavallade as Carolyn
- Stephen Mendillo as Cliff
- Gordon Tootoosis as Wesley Birdsong
- Beatrice Winde as Minnie Bledsoe
- Oni Faida Lampley as Celie
- Eleese Lester as Molly
- Joe Stevens as Deputy Travis
- Gonzalo Castillo as Amado
- Tony Frank as Fenton
- Eddie Robinson as Chet
- Chandra Wilson as Athena
- Damon Guy as Shadow
- Dee Macaluso as Anglo Mother
- Luis Cobo as Mexican-American Father
- Marco Perella as Anglo Father
- Don Phillips, Jr. as Principal
- Mary Jane R. Hernandez as Mexican-American Mother
- Carina Martinez as Paloma
- Richard Andrew Jones as Ben Wetzel
- Randy Stripling as Roderick
- Richard Reyes as Jorge
- Olga Luna as Waitress
- Juan Vega III as Cook
- Lizzie Curry Martinez as Girl
- Leo Burmester as Cody
- Vanessa Martinez as Young Pilar
- Tay Strathairn as Young Sam
- Sam Vlahos as Pete
- Maricela Gonzalez as Anselma
- Tony Amendola as Chucho Montoya
- Gilbert R. Cuellar Jr. as Eladio
- James Borrego as Young Chucho
- Lisa Suarez as Marisol
- Jesús Ramirez as Driver
- John Griesemer as Football Announcer (voice)
- Eduardo Martínez as Jaime
- Azalea Mendez as Young Mercedes
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 100
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 | 18 |
| 4 to 6 | 12 | 14 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 77 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 11 | 18 |
| 16 to 18 | 6 | 27 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 51 |
| 22 to 24 | 22 | 39 |
| 25 to 27 | 21 | 67 |
| 28 to 30 | 8 | 24 |
| 31 to 33 | 46 | 29 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 50 |
| 37 to 39 | 23 | 55 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 10 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 15 |
| 46 to 48 | 6 | 27 |
| 49 to 51 | 14 | 34 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 21 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 22 |
| 58 to 60 | 4 | 24 |
| 61 to 63 | 17 | 11 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 7 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 22 | 19 |
| 76 to 78 | 18 | 56 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 1 |
| 82 to 84 | 21 | 20 |
| 85 to 87 | 8 | 5 |
| 88 to 90 | 23 | 20 |
| 91 to 93 | 8 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 36 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 10 |
| 100 to 100 | 11 | 8 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
PALOMA: Not if you have half a brain in your head. PILAR: Of course you can. PALOMA: What? PILAR: It doesn't have anything to do with being smart.
PRISCILLA: Private Johnson! ATHENA: Sergeant? PRISCILLA: Report to Dr. Innis at the clinic. ATHENA: I'm feeling okay--
PALOMA: Mom? PILAR: Yeah? PALOMA: You gonna stay out here? PILAR: For a while.
PILAR: I don't think you can take it personally-- MOLLY: I'd like to see them spend a day pulling 14-year-olds off of each other--I should get combat pay-- PILAR: I have new respect for some of my kids, meeting the parents they've been dealt-- PILAR: See you, Molly.
ANSELMA: Ayudanos, Senora, por favor no podemos regresar--[Help us, Senora, please. We can't go back] MERCEDES: This girl is a friend of yours?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
321 lines from women, 829 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 34 men in the cast. 15 women and 29 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 33 of 1,164.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 90 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 28% of the words (3,625), men 72% (9,148).
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
11
Two men
38
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Sayles (man)
- Written by
- John Sayles (man)
- Produced by
- Maggie Renzi (woman), R. Paul Miller (man)
- Shot by
- Stuart Dryburgh (man)
- Edited by
- John Sayles (man)
- Music by
- Mason Daring (man)
- Production design by
- Dan Bishop (man)
- Costumes by
- Shay Cunliffe (woman)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 48 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Peña 36, Miriam Colon 59
Men
Gabriel Casseus 24, Matthew McConaughey 26, Chris Cooper 44, Ron Canada 47, Joe Morton 48, Kris Kristofferson 59, Clifton James 76
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $13.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 100 scenes and 1,164 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
