Fails the Bechdel test
Michael Clayton
2007. Directed by Tony Gilroy, written by Tony Gilroy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Michael Clayton, a high-priced law firm's fixer, leaves a late night poker game, gets a call to drive to Westchester, and watches his car blow up as he's taking an impromptu dawn walk through a field. Flash back four days. He owes a loan shark to cover his brother's debts (Michael's own gambling habits have left him virtually broke). His law firm is negotiating a high-stakes merger, and his firm's six year defense of a conglomerate's pesticide use is at risk when one of the firm's top litigators goes off his meds and puts the case in jeopardy. While Michael is trying to fix things someone decides to kill him. Who? Meanwhile his son summarizes the plot of a dark fantasy novel.
- Released
- 12 Oct 2007
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 28 wins & 114 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Michael 288 lines, man
- Karen 81 lines, woman
- Arthur 68 lines, man
- Marty 54 lines, man
- Verne 50 lines, man
- Iker 33 lines, man
- Gene 31 lines, man
- Henry 30 lines, man
- Barry 26 lines, man
- Zabel 22 lines, man
Full cast, 67 people
- George Clooney as Michael Clayton
- Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens
- Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder
- Sydney Pollack as Marty Bach
- Michael O'Keefe as Barry Grissom
- Ken Howard as Don Jeffries
- Sean Cullen as Gene Clayton
- Merritt Wever as Anna
- Austin Williams as Henry Clayton
- Robert Prescott as Mr. Verne
- Terry Serpico as Mr. Iker
- David Lansbury as Timmy Clayton
- Bill Raymond as Gabe Zabel
- David Zayas as Detective Dalberto
- Christopher Mann as Lieutenant Elston
- Denis O'Hare as Mr. Greer
- Julie White as Mrs. Greer
- Frank Wood as Gerald
- Heidi Armbruster as Anna's Sister
- Sharon Washington as Pam
- Danielle Skraastad as Bridget Klein (voice)
- Cynthia Mace as Wendy (voice)
- Jonathan Walker as Del (voice)
- Michael Countryman as Evan (voice)
- Douglas McGrath as Jeff Gaffney
- Pamela Gray as Cindy Bach
- Julia Gibson as Stephanie Clayton
- Jennifer Van Dyck as Ivy
- Susan McBrien as Jean
- Amy Hargreaves as Interviewer
- Susan Pellegrino as Secretary
- Rachel Black as Maude
- Matthew Detmer as Todd
- Kevin Hagan as Raymond Clayton
- Susan Egbert as Michelle
- John Douglas Thompson as Jail Guard
- Edward Furs as Milwaukee Captain
- Remy Auberjonois as Fifth Year
- Katherine Waterston as Third Year
- Pun Bandhu as Fourth Year
- Jason Strong as First Year
- Wai Chan as Chinese Dealer
- Alberto Vazquez as Player #1
- Brian Koppelman as Player #2
- Richard Hecht as Auctioneer
- Brian Poteat as Deposition Lawyer
- John Gerard Franklin as Correction Officer
- Paul Oquist as Starter
- Andrew Hunter Sherman as U / North (voice)
- Gregory Dann as Cop
- Cathy Diane Tomlin as Cop #2
- Sam Gilroy as Copy Kid
- Maggie Siff as Attorney #1
- Sarah Nichols as Barry's Assistant
- Jordan Lage as Partner
- Neal Huff as First Associate
- Paul Juhn as Second Associate
- Tom McCarthy as Waiter (voice)
- Tony Gilroy as Taxi Driver (voice) (uncredited)
- Patrick Askin as Auction Bidder (uncredited)
- Angelo Bonsignore as Videographer (uncredited)
- Kevin Cannon as Auction Worker (uncredited)
- Clem Cheung as Landlord (uncredited)
- Emelie Jeffries as Raymond Clayton's Nurse (uncredited)
- Josh Mowery as Lawyer (uncredited)
- Kimmy Suzuki as Copy Shop Clerk (uncredited)
- Steven Weisz as Executive (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 221
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 5 | 0 | 20 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 to 15 | 2 | 31 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 30 | 2 | 21 |
| 31 to 35 | 7 | 57 |
| 36 to 40 | 4 | 0 |
| 41 to 45 | 6 | 0 |
| 46 to 50 | 3 | 9 |
| 51 to 55 | 12 | 35 |
| 56 to 60 | 6 | 0 |
| 61 to 65 | 3 | 32 |
| 66 to 70 | 22 | 37 |
| 71 to 75 | 2 | 12 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 42 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 5 |
| 86 to 90 | 2 | 3 |
| 91 to 95 | 11 | 8 |
| 96 to 100 | 2 | 52 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 7 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 43 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 4 |
| 116 to 120 | 11 | 40 |
| 121 to 125 | 3 | 37 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 38 |
| 131 to 135 | 6 | 6 |
| 136 to 140 | 5 | 19 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 0 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 18 |
| 151 to 155 | 6 | 8 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 32 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 10 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 0 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 2 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 3 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 3 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 6 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 7 |
| 201 to 205 | 0 | 9 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 3 |
| 211 to 215 | 2 | 11 |
| 216 to 220 | 26 | 41 |
| 221 to 221 | 0 | 2 |
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, 16 are women's.
144 lines from women, 732 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 40 men in the cast. 14 women and 39 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 71 of 950.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 100 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (1,694), men 85% (9,845). Women have 16% 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
2
Two men
52
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tony Gilroy (man)
- Written by
- Tony Gilroy (man)
- Produced by
- Sydney Pollack (man), Jennifer Fox (woman), Steve Samuels (man), Kerry Orent (woman)
- Shot by
- Robert Elswit (man)
- Edited by
- John Gilroy (man)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Kevin Thompson (man)
- Costumes by
- Sarah Edwards (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 7 men
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Merritt Wever 27, Tilda Swinton 46
Men
Austin Williams 10, George Clooney 46, Sean Cullen 47, Robert Prescott 50, Michael O'Keefe 52, Tom Wilkinson 59, Ken Howard 63, Sydney Pollack 73
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $93 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 221 scenes and 950 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
