Passes the Bechdel test
No Strings Attached
2011. Directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Elizabeth Meriwether and Michael Samonek.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 16 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 128. -
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
Occasionally in the 15 years since summer camp, Adam and Emma cross paths. When he discovers that an ex-girlfriend is living with his dad, he gets drunk, calls every woman in his cell phone contact list, and ends up passed out naked in her living room. By this time, she's a medical resident in L.A. and he's a gopher on a "Glee"-like TV series, hoping to be a writer. She guards her emotions (calling her father's funeral "a thing"), so after a quick shag in the moments she has before leaving for the hospital, she asks if he wants a no-strings-attached, sex-only relationship, without romance or complications. A prescription for fun or for disaster?
- Released
- 21 Jan 2011
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Adam 360 lines, man
- Emma 322 lines, woman
- Alvin 27 lines, man
- Sandra 26 lines, woman
- Eli 25 lines, man
- Scottie 13 lines
- Joy 11 lines, woman
- Adam - 10 lines, man
- Emma - 10 lines, woman
- Connie 8 lines
Full cast, 59 people
- Natalie Portman as Emma Kurtzman
- Ashton Kutcher as Adam Franklin
- Kevin Kline as Alvin Franklin
- Cary Elwes as Dr. Stephen Metzner
- Greta Gerwig as Patrice
- Lake Bell as Lucy
- Olivia Thirlby as Katie Kurtzman
- Ludacris as Wallace
- Jake Johnson as Eli
- Mindy Kaling as Shira
- Talia Balsam as Sandra Kurtzman
- Ophelia Lovibond as Vanessa
- Guy Branum as Guy
- Ben Lawson as Sam
- Jennifer Irwin as Megan
- Adhir Kalyan as Kevin
- Brian H. Dierker as Bones
- Abby Elliott as Joy
- Vedette Lim as Lisa
- Gary David Goldberg as Emma's Relative
- Armen Weitzman as Taxi Driver
- Shaun Russell as LACMA Guard
- Nealla Gordon as Lydia
- Seth Morris as Man with Dog
- Nasim Pedrad as Writer
- Elizabeth Meriwether as Writer
- Mollee Gray as Sari
- Derek Ferguson as Benji
- Matthew Moy as Chuck
- Tyne Stecklein as Victoria
- Kym Connor as Stage Mom
- Renna Bogdanowicz as Stage Assistant Director
- Jennifer Hamilton as On Camera Choreographer
- Krystal Ellsworth as Secret High Dancer
- Megan Honore as Secret High Dancer
- Nick Lanzisera as Secret High Dancer
- Moira 'Anjolie' Marfori as Secret High Dancer
- Dalphe Morantus as Secret High Dancer
- Katrina Norman as Secret High Dancer
- Heather Phillips as Secret High Dancer
- Britt Stewart as Secret High Dancer
- Paula Van Oppen as Secret High Dancer
- William Loftis as Secret High Dancer
- KC Monnie as Secret High Dancer
- Jason Williams as Secret High Dancer
- Chulachak Chakrabongse as Bar Group
- Jay Barclay as Bar Group
- Tom Tangen as Eli's Dad
- Tim Matheson as Eli's Dad #2
- Ben Lautman as Rabbi
- Joshua Andreacola as Boy at Wake
- Sam Greenberg as Boy at Wake
- Rachel McDermott as STK Waitress
- Robert Trapp as Mini-Golfer
- Rachael Markarian as Frat Party Dancer
- Kherington Payne as Frat Party Dancer
- Dylan Doornbos Hayes as Young Adam
- Stefanie Scott as Young Emma
- Marko Germar as Secret High Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 128
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 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 13 | 32 |
| 7 to 9 | 25 | 28 |
| 10 to 12 | 7 | 8 |
| 13 to 15 | 13 | 7 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 17 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 23 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 9 | 14 |
| 28 to 30 | 23 | 25 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 12 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 8 |
| 40 to 42 | 9 | 10 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 12 | 7 |
| 49 to 51 | 16 | 20 |
| 52 to 54 | 8 | 6 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 14 |
| 61 to 63 | 23 | 26 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 7 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 10 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 12 | 11 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 23 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 18 | 17 |
| 88 to 90 | 24 | 37 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 5 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 12 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 17 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 2 | 4 |
| 112 to 114 | 19 | 8 |
| 115 to 117 | 7 | 3 |
| 118 to 120 | 8 | 19 |
| 121 to 123 | 8 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 7 | 12 |
| 127 to 128 | 6 | 8 |
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.
EMMA: I can't believe you made fun of my, music-when all you do is listen to Neil Diamond. EMMA: Oh god.. EMMA -: I chocked 5 ,prostates and I drained a genital wart. Adamturns the music up.
EMMA: I'm sorry, Mike, I can''.t hear you- I'm on a Celebrities Homes Tour. - Mazri, this is in Spanish. SANDRA: It - doesn't matter, wecan still figure out where they, live.
EMMA: I'm sorry, I only have one day off, T .Wanted-to take you to the places. .1' love . Mom.,.can. we talk about- An artist sits on a stool. sur… SANDRA: Hey, let-'.s get. h.im to draw. your picture, EMMA': No! SANDRA': Come on. How much?
EMMA: You should go- SANDRA: Wait. I wanted to say something- EMMA -: Come on Mom, you don't have to- SANDRA -: Listen to me. I could never stand to see you in pain- you're xiiy child. And I think you -knew thatr and-I think you got good at- -being -st…
SANDRA': Are you okay? Honey? We just-got home. EMMA: I think I get it, Mom. Emma starts to cry, hard. EMMA: It hurts. SANDRA: Yeah. It does. They 'don't-say anything- Sandra sits on the front steps of the house and just listens on the other end as. Emma cries.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
398 lines from women, 460 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 22 men in the cast. 16 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 43% of the words (3,882), men 57% (5,194). Women have 46% 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
16
Two men
22
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ivan Reitman (man)
- Written by
- Elizabeth Meriwether (woman)
- Story by
- Elizabeth Meriwether (woman), Michael Samonek (man)
- Produced by
- Jeffrey Clifford (man), Joe Medjuck (man), Ivan Reitman (man)
- Shot by
- Rogier Stoffers (man)
- Edited by
- Dana E. Glauberman (woman)
- Music by
- John Debney (man)
- Production design by
- Ida Random (woman)
- Costumes by
- Julie Weiss (woman)
- Cast by
- Joanna Colbert (woman), Rich Mento (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
11 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 15 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men
-
Editing
2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Olivia Thirlby 24, Greta Gerwig 27, Natalie Portman 29, Lake Bell 31, Mindy Kaling 31
Men
Ashton Kutcher 32, Jake Johnson 32, Ludacris 33, Cary Elwes 48, Kevin Kline 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $149 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 128 scenes and 964 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
