Passes the Bechdel test

Max Payne

Name: Max Payne
Released: 2008

2008. Directed by John Moore, written by Beau Thorne and Sam Lake.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 97.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Three years ago, NYPD detective Max Payne's wife and baby were murdered. Max gets himself transferred to the cold case office where he can continue searching for the killer who got away. He's a loner, but two people reach out to him during a fateful week: Alex, his ex-partner who may have found a clue, and BB, the security chief at the pharmaceutical company where Max's wife worked. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up, some as a result of a drug on the street that is highly addictive and, for many who take it, brings hideous hallucinations. When one of the bodies is a woman Payne was the last to see alive, her sister comes looking for him armed to the teeth; Max must move fast.

Released: 17 Oct 2008
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 5.3 / 10
Metascore: 31 / 100
Awards: 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Max 125 lines, man
Bb 96 lines, man
Mona 41 lines, woman
Bravura 40 lines, man
Colvin 22 lines, man
Ax 18 lines
B 17 lines
Sgt. Adams 12 lines, man
Joe Salle 10 lines, man
Natasha 10 lines, woman

Full cast, 49 people

Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne
Mila Kunis as Mona Sax
Beau Bridges as BB Hensley
Ludacris as Jim Bravura
Chris O'Donnell as Jason Colvin
Donal Logue as Alex Balder
Amaury Nolasco as Jack Lupino
Kate Burton as Nicole Horne
Olga Kurylenko as Natasha
Rothaford Gray as Joe Salle
Joel Gordon as Owen Green
Jamie Hector as Lincoln Deneuf
Andrew Friedman as Trevor
Marianthi Evans as Michelle Payne
Nelly Furtado as Christa Balder
Jay Hunter as Pawnshop Man
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos as Doug
Kjartan Hewitt as Kid
Stephen R. Hart as Tattoo Artist Owner
Martin 'Mako' Hindy as Demon
Herbert Johnson as Train Attendant
Philip Williams as Sergeant Adams
Warren Belle as Detective
Ted Atherton as Detective Shipman
Rico Simonini as Detective Sergeant Amerini
PJ Lazic as Junkie
Brandon Carrei as Young Cop
Katie Odegaard as Jackie
Joshua Barilko as Ragna Rok Guard #1
Conrad Pla as Captain Bowen
Larry Wheatley as Bartender
Janice Nguyen as Detective
Goûchy Boy as Doorman
Spike Adamson as Aesir Security Guard
Carlos Gonzalez-Vio as Man Who Gets Dosed With Drug
Lana Denis as Nude People Making Out
Christina Jocic as Nude People Making Out
Barrington Bignall as Nude People Making Out
Noelle Gray as Nude People Making Out
James Preston Rogers as Nude People Making Out
Candice Hotchkiss as Nude People Making Out
Gendaijs Dolganovs as Enforcer
Dale Yim as Beat Cop
Tig Fong as Lead Aesir Security Guard
Siobhan Murphy as Receptionist #2
Sergei Nikolich as Anton
Kristina Falcomer as Girl at Party
Brea Grant as Junkie Girl (uncredited)
James McCaffrey as Jack Taliente (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 19% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 97

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	6
4 to 6	0	37
7 to 9	4	15
10 to 12	7	5
13 to 15	0	18
16 to 18	0	11
19 to 21	0	9
22 to 24	6	32
25 to 27	9	12
28 to 30	9	14
31 to 33	3	2
34 to 36	0	22
37 to 39	8	0
40 to 42	0	9
43 to 45	0	13
46 to 48	0	8
49 to 51	0	4
52 to 54	0	22
55 to 57	1	23
58 to 60	7	34
61 to 63	0	4
64 to 66	0	17
67 to 69	0	3
70 to 72	0	10
73 to 75	0	11
76 to 78	1	0
79 to 81	0	4
82 to 84	7	17
85 to 87	4	1
88 to 90	1	4
91 to 93	0	6
94 to 96	0	1
97 to 97	0	1

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

MONA: Mind your business. NATASHA: My sister. Sort of a bitch.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 15 are women's.

67 lines from women, 375 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 29 men in the cast. 8 women and 23 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 60 of 547. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 85 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 12% of the words (530), men 88% (3,820). Women have 15% 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, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: John Moore (man)
Written by: Beau Thorne (gender not listed)
Produced by: Scott Faye (gender not listed), John Moore (man), Julie Yorn (woman), Peter Veverka (man)
Shot by: Jonathan Sela (man)
Edited by: Dan Zimmerman (man)
Music by: Marco Beltrami (man), Buck Sanders (man)
Production design by: Daniel T. Dorrance (man)
Costumes by: George L. Little (man)
Cast by: Mindy Marin (woman)