Passes the Bechdel test
Love & Basketball
2000. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, written by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
27 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 17 scenes out of 109. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Quincy McCall (Epps) and Monica Wright (Lathan) grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. They eventually follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.
- Released
- 21 Apr 2000
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Sport
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- 14 wins & 15 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Monica 331 lines, woman
- Quincy 315 lines, man
- Camille 72 lines, woman
- Zeke 67 lines, man
- Nona 45 lines, woman
- Sidra 32 lines, woman
- Coach Miller 30 lines, woman
- Lena 30 lines, woman
- Jason 20 lines, man
- Nathan 19 lines, man
Full cast, 76 people
- Omar Epps as Quincy McCall
- Sanaa Lathan as Monica Wright
- Alfre Woodard as Camille Wright
- Dennis Haysbert as Zeke McCall
- Debbi Morgan as Nona McCall
- Harry Lennix as Nathan Wright
- Kyla Pratt as Young Monica
- Glenndon Chatman as Young Quincy
- Christine Dunford as Coach Davis
- Regina Hall as Lena Wright
- Erika Ringor as Sidra O'Neal
- Chris Warren as Kelvin
- Gabrielle Union as Shawnee
- Tyra Banks as Kyra Kessler
- Jesse Corti as Coach Parra
- Boris Kodjoe as Jason
- Monica Calhoun as Kerry
- Shar Jackson as Felicia
- Wendi Levy as Shayla
- Jess Willard as Jamal
- Naykia Harris as Young Lena
- Al Foster as Coach Hiserman
- Colleen Matsuhara as UCLA Coach
- Nathaniel Bellamy Jr. as Highschool Referee
- James DuMont as Reporter
- April Griffin as Dorsey High School Player
- Kara Brock as College Girl #1
- Aichi Ali as College Girl #2
- Dionysio Basco as College Student
- Charles O'Bannon as Reggie
- Chick Hearn as Chick Hearn
- Stu Lantz as Stu Lantz
- Robin Roberts as Robin Roberts
- Dick Vitale as Dick Vitale
- Jimmy Lennon Jr. as Sports Announcer
- Terry Cummings as Terry Cummings
- Trevor Wilson as Trevor Wilson
- Andre Bellinger as College Referee
- Marta Bou Morera as Spanish Girl
- Marta Crespo as Spanish Girl
- Raquel Hurtado as Spanish Girl
- Jordi Clemente as Security Guard
- Leticia Oseguera as Luisa
- Mar Castro as Lead Singer
- Yussi Wenger as Guitar
- Django Porter as Bass
- Alberto de Almar as Guitar
- Paris H. Rooks as Guitar
- Julio Ledezma as Percussion
- Rebecca Patterson as Nurse
- Steve Spencer as Laker's Trainer
- Lisa Barkin Oxley as Bank Officer
- Madison Duvernay as Lena's Baby
- Nairobi Dickens as Monica & Quincy's Baby
- Sandra Pérez as Sandra
- Carla Houser as Lisa
- Marigold Clark as Big Toni
- Marte Alexander as Zvette
- Sabrina Roberson as Lacresha
- Audrey Gomez as Audrey
- Erica Jackson as Erica
- Valerie Agee as Maeyen
- Yolanda Higgins as Assistant Coach
- Major Dennis as Assistant Coach
- Sandra Van Embricqs as Assistant Coach
- Afton Thomas as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Chevana Player as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Lorna Monique Clemmons as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Carenda Saunder as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Chandra Cole as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Shawnte Watson as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Krystal Braden as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Lakesha Willingham as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Jenece Johnson as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Erika Wilson as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
- Sharon Vigne as Crenshaw High School Girl's Basketball Team
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 109
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 | 8 | 25 |
| 4 to 6 | 52 | 35 |
| 7 to 9 | 16 | 18 |
| 10 to 12 | 17 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 18 | 21 |
| 16 to 18 | 26 | 26 |
| 19 to 21 | 7 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 35 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 13 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 28 | 27 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 3 |
| 34 to 36 | 20 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 19 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 34 | 9 |
| 43 to 45 | 13 | 20 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 35 |
| 58 to 60 | 22 | 21 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 15 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 21 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 28 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 20 |
| 76 to 78 | 5 | 4 |
| 79 to 81 | 33 | 22 |
| 82 to 84 | 6 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 23 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 4 | 31 |
| 91 to 93 | 74 | 24 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 9 | 9 |
| 103 to 105 | 32 | 23 |
| 106 to 108 | 23 | 21 |
| 109 to 109 | 0 | 4 |
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.
CAMILLE: Monica, what did you do? MONICA: Nothing. CAMILLE: Oh, all that work. NONA: It's...it's okay. Can I get a towel?
MONICA: Ow! MONICA: Ow, Lena!!! LENA: Ow! MONICA: Ah, Mom.
CAMILLE: ...and if you want a thicker base, you can cut in a potato or just use a little flour. LENA: But you use potato?
MONICA: I was just showing emotion. CAMILLE: So that means it's alright for you to act like that? LENA: What'd you do? MONICA: nothing.
MONICA: Chances are there's still a chance. CAMILLE: If you'd just listen for once, you'd realize you have a lot more going for yourself. You're smart, you'd be pretty if you put a comb to your…
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 57 are women's.
610 lines from women, 454 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
27 women and 16 men in the cast. 14 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 22 of 1,102.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 36 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 59% of the words (4,990), men 41% (3,479). Women have 57% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
33
Two men
17
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 42% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Gina Prince-Bythewood (woman)
- Written by
- Gina Prince-Bythewood (woman)
- Produced by
- Spike Lee (man), Sam Kitt (man)
- Shot by
- Reynaldo Villalobos (man)
- Edited by
- Terilyn A. Shropshire (woman)
- Music by
- Terence Blanchard (man)
- Production design by
- Jeffrey Howard (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Ruth E. Carter (woman)
- Cast by
- Aisha Coley (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 30 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kyla Pratt 13, Sanaa Lathan 28, Regina Hall 29, Alfre Woodard 47, Debbi Morgan 48
Men
Glenndon Chatman 13, Omar Epps 26, Harry Lennix 35, Dennis Haysbert 45
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $27.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 109 scenes and 1,102 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
