Passes the Bechdel test

Man on Fire

Name: Man on Fire
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by Tony Scott, written by A.J. Quinnell and Brian Helgeland.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 182.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Hard-drinking, burnt-out ex-CIA operative John Creasy has given up on life until he's hired as a bodyguard to protect 9-year-old Pita Ramos. Bit by bit, Creasy begins to reclaim some of his soul, but when Pita is kidnapped, Creasy's fiery rage is finally released. He will stop at nothing to exact revenge on all those who were involved or profited from Pita's abduction.

Released: 23 Apr 2004
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.7 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Creasy 310 lines, man
Pinta 130 lines, woman
Manzano 68 lines, man
Rayburn 68 lines, man
Lisa 64 lines, woman
Samuel 45 lines, man
Rosanna 38 lines
Jordan 20 lines, man
Jorge 18 lines, man
Tazinari 17 lines, man

Full cast, 76 people

Denzel Washington as John W. Creasy
Dakota Fanning as Lupita Ramos
Christopher Walken as Paul Rayburn
Radha Mitchell as Lisa Ramos
Marc Anthony as Samuel Ramos
Giancarlo Giannini as Miguel Manzano
Rachel Ticotin as Mariana Garcia Guerrero
Mickey Rourke as Jordan Kalfus
Roberto Sosa as Daniel Sanchez
Jesús Ochoa as Victor Fuentes
Gero Camilo as Aurelio Sanchez
Mario Zaragoza as Jorge Gonzalez
Charles Paraventi as Jersey Boy
Carmen Salinas as Guardian Three
Esteban de La Trinidad as Guardian Thwo
Angelina Peláez as Sister Anna
Norma Pablo as Reina Rosas
Rosa María Hernández as Maria
Heriberto del Castillo as Bruno
Steve Gonzales as Insurance Lawyer
Andrés Pardave as Vet
Rodrigo Zurita as Eighteen
Marisol Cal y Mayor as Eighteen's Girlfriend
Hector Hernandez Zertuche as Chauffeur
René Campero as Father
Angélica Rosado as Mother
Georgina González as Rayburn's Wife
Abraham Sandoval as Rayburn's Kid
Hugo Pelaez as Pedro
Jorge Victoria as Comandande Judicial
Ariane Pellicer as Reporter 1
Jorge Picont as Piano Teacher
Alberto Estrella as Adjutant AFI
Gerardo Taracena as Executive Adjutant
Nydia A. Trujillo as Nurse 1
Maria Hall Rueda as Nurse 2
Elvira Richards as Vet Assistant
Javier Zaragoza as Sandri
Valentina Garcia Contreras as Camila
Enrique Cimet as Elderly Man
Sparkle as Elderly Woman
Dunia Alvarez as AFI Plainclothes 1
Beatriz Pina as Undercover AFI
Hector Tagle as Mariana's Driver
Jose Jesus Garcia as Sanchez Kid 1
Guadalupe Flores Garcia as Sanchez Kid 2
Daniela Martinez as Sanchez Kid 3
Rubén Santana as AFI Trailer Tech 1
Fernando Berzosa as AFI Trailer Tech 2
Eduardo Rivera as AFI Operator on Radio
Victor De Pascual as Arms Dealer
Norma Martínez as Arms Dealer 2
Aram Cardenas as Nephew
José Manuel Poncelis as School Clerk
Alejandro Camps as Bodyguard 1
Jorge Almada as Bodyguard 1A
Carlos Barada as Bodyguard 2
Eduardo Yáñez as Bodyguard 2A
Jorge Merlo as Judicial Police
Alberto Pineda as Fuentes Man 1
Jesús González Leal 'Chis Chas' as Fuentes Driver
Rodrigo Chavez as Fuentes Man 5
Fernando Arvizu as Thug Cop 1
Ghalil Elhateb Estrada as Thug Cop 2
Hugo Genesio as Plainclothes 1
Gonzalo Alvarez as Plainclothes 2
Itatí Cantoral as Evelyn (uncredited)
Arturo Farfán as Bartender (uncredited)
Adrian Grünberg as Docile Reporter (uncredited)
Jorge Guerrero as Priest (uncredited)
Roberto Kwok as Japanese Businessman 6 (uncredited)
José Montini as Restaurant Owner (uncredited)
Stacy Perskie as Cynical Reporter (uncredited)
Berenice Manjarrez Vericat as Newscaster (uncredited)
Raúl Zermeño as Highranking Government Official (uncredited)
Jorge Zárate as Customs Official (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 182

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 4	0	0
5 to 8	0	0
9 to 12	4	8
13 to 16	0	28
17 to 20	8	39
21 to 24	32	32
25 to 28	22	17
29 to 32	0	8
33 to 36	12	10
37 to 40	11	8
41 to 44	0	1
45 to 48	0	8
49 to 52	11	11
53 to 56	9	9
57 to 60	3	1
61 to 64	12	11
65 to 68	20	21
69 to 72	9	8
73 to 76	3	4
77 to 80	0	0
81 to 84	24	27
85 to 88	13	14
89 to 92	0	8
93 to 96	0	17
97 to 100	0	6
101 to 104	0	5
105 to 108	0	14
109 to 112	0	8
113 to 116	6	10
117 to 120	0	9
121 to 124	0	8
125 to 128	0	33
129 to 132	1	2
133 to 136	1	0
137 to 140	15	14
141 to 144	0	41
145 to 148	0	6
149 to 152	0	7
153 to 156	0	29
157 to 160	1	11
161 to 164	1	5
165 to 168	0	31
169 to 172	0	1
173 to 176	6	32
177 to 180	4	9
181 to 182	0	2

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.

PINTA: Bye, Mom. LISA: Don't forget your towel. LISA: She has swimming practice today. You'll need to pick her up at the pool. LISA: I talked to her. She understands. She won't bother you anymore.

LISA: I'll call you from Detroit, baby. PINTA: You're going to miss Mexican Halloween. The Day of the Dead.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.

228 lines from women, 573 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 31 men in the cast. 8 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 6 of 886. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 108 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 25% of the words (1,856), men 75% (5,565). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Tony Scott (man)
Written by: Brian Helgeland (man)
From the novel by: A. J. Quinnell (man)
Produced by: Lucas Foster (man), Tony Scott (man), Arnon Milchan (man)
Shot by: Paul Cameron (man)
Edited by: Christian Wagner (man)
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams (man)
Production design by: Benjamín Fernández (man), Chris Seagers (man)
Costumes by: Louise Frogley (woman)
Cast by: Bonnie Timmermann (woman)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

2 women, 18 men, 20 not listed
Sound

5 women, 20 men, 11 not listed
Production

4 women, 11 men, 15 not listed
Art

2 women, 6 men, 14 not listed
Camera

0 women, 15 men, 7 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

3 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
Editing

1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
Directing

1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 28 on average. Men: 48 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Dakota Fanning 10, Radha Mitchell 30, Rachel Ticotin 45

Men

Roberto Sosa 34, Marc Anthony 35, Jesús Ochoa 44, Denzel Washington 49, Mickey Rourke 51, Christopher Walken 61, Giancarlo Giannini 61

Exhibit H: the money

It made 1.9 times what it cost.

Budget: $70 million
Box office: $130 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 182 scenes and 886 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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