Fails the Bechdel test
MacGruber
2010. Directed by Jorma Taccone, written by Will Forte and John Solomon and Jorma Taccone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
In the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, Eastern Siberia, the criminal Dieter Von Cunth steals a Russian X5 nuclear warhead. Colonel James Faith travels to Rio Bamba, Ecuador, with the efficient Lieutenant Dixon Piper to summon the retired special operative MacGruber to retrieve the X5. MacGruber is considered deceased after the death of his beloved wife Casey by his archenemy Cunth in their wedding. MacGruber teams up with Piper and Vicki St. Elmo and they learn that the evil Cunth intends to use the warhead to destroy Washington D.C.
- Released
- 21 May 2010
- Genres
- Action, Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 43 / 100
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Macgruber 429 lines, man
- Piper 137 lines, man
- Vicki 101 lines, woman
- Cunth 75 lines, man
- Faith 72 lines, man
- Cu 20 lines
- Constantine 13 lines, man
- Frank 9 lines, man
- Casey 7 lines, woman
- Female Computer Voice 7 lines
Full cast, 56 people
- Will Forte as MacGruber
- Kristen Wiig as Vicki
- Ryan Phillippe as Piper
- Powers Boothe as Colonel Faith
- Maya Rudolph as Casey
- Christopher Irvine as Frank Korver
- Mark Henry as Tut Beemer
- Glenn Jacobs as Tanker Lutz
- Dalip Singh as Tug Phelps
- Hassan Hamin Assad as Vernon Freedom
- Paul Wight as Brick Hughes
- Timothy V. Murphy as Constantine
- Andy Mackenzie as Hoss
- Jasper Cole as Zeke
- Val Kilmer as Cunth
- Rhys Coiro as Yerik Novikov
- Kevin Skousen as Senator Garver
- Robert M. Reid as Priest
- Jim Giesler as Janitor
- Brandon Trost as Brick's Boyfriend
- Robert Douglas Washington as Cashier
- Chris Kittinger as Man in Tuxedo
- Marielle Heller as Clocky
- Derek Mears as Large Henchman
- John Gibson as Dealer
- Vic Browder as Control Room Guard
- Russ Dillen as Commander
- Michael-David Aragon as Machine Room Guard
- Gregory Alan Williams as Minister
- Chad Brummett as Military Officer
- Sandra Wood as Nude Model
- Matt Wood as Bartender
- Mark Dimitrijevic as Man in Café
- Amar'e Stoudemire as Self
- Brian Petsos as Dude
- Alan D'Antoni as Russian Guard
- Cajardo Lindsey as Railroad Guard #1
- Laurence Chavez as Railroad Guard #2 / Compound Guard #2
- Matthew Lee Christmas as Railroad Guard #3
- Michael Owen as Railroad Bodyguard
- Ed Duran as Compound Guard #1
- Tomas Sanchez as Compound Guard #3
- Bobby Burns as Compound Guard #4
- Bill Leaman as Compound Guard #5
- Willie Weber as Compound Guard #6
- Alan Tafoya as Charging Guard
- Michelle Waterson-Gomez as Club Babe #1
- Jason Trost as Smoking Guard
- Milos Milicevic as KFBR392 Guy
- Christina Rouner as News Anchor
- Eugene Nosoff as Russian Radio Voice (voice)
- Jamie Haqqani as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Jesus Jr. as Edwin Culebra (uncredited)
- Cynthia Lee as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Casey Messer as Cunth's Daughter (uncredited)
- Freddy Martinez as MMA Fighter (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 129
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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 16 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 36 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 25 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 18 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 10 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 70 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 24 |
| 37 to 39 | 8 | 27 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 9 | 12 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 1 |
| 49 to 51 | 3 | 7 |
| 52 to 54 | 5 | 9 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 35 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 12 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 10 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 7 | 33 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 44 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 49 |
| 85 to 87 | 10 | 46 |
| 88 to 90 | 19 | 20 |
| 91 to 93 | 6 | 27 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 11 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 19 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 29 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 9 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 8 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 10 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 37 |
| 124 to 126 | 9 | 61 |
| 127 to 129 | 1 | 18 |
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, 12 are women's.
110 lines from women, 775 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 39 men in the cast. 3 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 65 of 942.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (614), men 93% (7,697). Women have 12% 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
0
Two men
17
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jorma Taccone (man)
- Written by
- Will Forte (man), John Solomon (man), Jorma Taccone (man)
- Produced by
- Lorne Michaels (man), John Goldwyn (man)
- Shot by
- Brandon Trost (man)
- Edited by
- Jamie Gross (woman)
- Music by
- Matthew Compton (man)
- Production design by
- Robb Wilson King (man)
- Cast by
- Sheila Jaffe (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 8 men, 20 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 12 men, 11 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 1 men, 19 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 20 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
3 women, 11 men, 10 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 3 men, 21 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 11 men, 6 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 9 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kristen Wiig 36, Maya Rudolph 37
Men
Ryan Phillippe 35, Hassan Hamin Assad 36, Dalip Singh 37, Mark Henry 38, Will Forte 39, Christopher Irvine 39, Glenn Jacobs 43, Powers Boothe 61
Exhibit G: the money
It made 93% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $9.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 942 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
