Passes the Bechdel test

Nurse Betty

Name: Nurse Betty
Released: 2000

2000. Directed by Neil LaBute, written by John C. Richards and James Flamberg.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
20 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 148.
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

Kansas City waitress, Betty (Renée Zellweger), with dreams of becoming a nurse, becomes delusional after seeing her no-good car salesman husband murdered. Becoming delusional from shock, she becomes convinced that she is the former fiancée of her soap opera idol. What she also believes is that the soap opera is real and goes to Los Angeles, California to find the hospital where he works as a cardiologist. Meanwhile, her husband's murderers are searching for the drugs stolen by her husband and, as luck would have it, they are stored in the trunk of the car in which she drove off. Charlie (Morgan Freeman), an aging hitman planning his retirement after this job, also becomes delusional about the woman he is tracking.

Released: 08 Sep 2000
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 14 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Betty 265 lines, woman
Charlie 205 lines, man
Wesley 147 lines, man
Rosa 99 lines, woman
George 87 lines, man
Ballard 76 lines, man
Roy 72 lines, man
Del 57 lines, man
Sue Ann 35 lines, woman
Ellen 31 lines, woman

Full cast, 44 people

Morgan Freeman as Charlie
Renée Zellweger as Betty
Chris Rock as Wesley
Greg Kinnear as Dr. David Ravell
Aaron Eckhart as Del
Tia Texada as Rosa
Crispin Glover as Roy
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Ballard
Allison Janney as Lyla
Kathleen Wilhoite as Sue Ann
Elizabeth Mitchell as Chloe
Susan Barnes as Darlene
Harriet Sansom Harris as Ellen
Sung-Hi Lee as Jasmine
Laird Macintosh as Dr. Lonnie Walsh
Steven Gilborn as Blake
Jenny Gago as Mercedes
Sheila Kelley as Joyce
Matthew Cowles as Merle
Wayne Tippit as Doctor
George D. Wallace as Grandfather
Lesley Woods as Grandmother
Cynthia Martells as Chief Nurse
Alfonso Freeman as ER Doctor
Kevin Rahm as Friend #1
Steven Culp as Friend #2
Deborah May as Gloria Walsh
Max Murphy as Studio Guard
Tina Smith as Waitress
T.J. Kennedy as Cook
Irene Olga López as Rosa's Mother
Steve Franken as Administrator
Kelwin Hagen as Deputy
Josh Dotson as Parking Valet
Dona Hardy as Woman Patient
Paul Threlkeld as Grip
José Vásquez as Gang Member
Jack Jacobson as Stagehand
Elaine Corral Kendall as Anchor
Greg Bronson as Diner Patron (uncredited)
Michelle Carmen Gomez as Woman at Bar (uncredited)
Toby Linz as Sue Ann's Son (uncredited)
Hillary Straney as Woman in Hotel (uncredited)
Jenny Wade as Diner Waitress (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 148

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	11	27
5 to 8	18	11
9 to 12	22	6
13 to 16	1	0
17 to 20	34	15
21 to 24	5	4
25 to 28	0	62
29 to 32	0	27
33 to 36	1	10
37 to 40	8	24
41 to 44	2	51
45 to 48	10	0
49 to 52	0	5
53 to 56	1	33
57 to 60	3	3
61 to 64	10	31
65 to 68	14	7
69 to 72	16	4
73 to 76	35	17
77 to 80	5	24
81 to 84	14	0
85 to 88	18	17
89 to 92	37	0
93 to 96	10	15
97 to 100	32	17
101 to 104	27	13
105 to 108	12	13
109 to 112	39	36
113 to 116	30	25
117 to 120	8	27
121 to 124	12	15
125 to 128	31	48
129 to 132	21	22
133 to 136	18	60
137 to 140	11	30
141 to 144	21	23
145 to 148	2	0

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.

BETTY: ... alright, I get it, no more TV. Sorry. BETTY: Oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing! Where did you ever find this? DARLENE: On the goddamn internet, where else? BETTY: You're joking...

BETTY: Do you have a phone? ELLEN: If it's long distance you can leave me a buck when you're done. BETTY: Sue Ann? It's Betty. I just wanted to let you know I'm okay ... Huh? I'm at the Canyon Ranch Bar in ...

ROSA: We can't forget what you did yesterday ... How can my family ever repay you? BETTY: Tell her I was just--

ROSA: She doesn't care if it was just your job... Danny would be dead now but for you. ROSA: You don't sound like you're from here. BETTY: I'm not. I just drove in from Kansas. ROSA: So why'd you come to L.A.?

BETTY: Hey, Rosa...it's Betty. How do you get to this town called 'Tustin?' It's in Orange County... ROSA: Tustin? Take the Hollywood Freeway to the Five... BETTY: The Five? ROSA: Just look for the really crowded road and follow that.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.

539 lines from women, 722 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

20 women and 20 men in the cast. 11 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 1,286. 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 39% of the words (5,875), men 61% (9,000). Women have 43% 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

4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Neil LaBute (man)
Written by: John C. Richards (man), James Flamberg (gender not listed)
Story by: John C. Richards (man)
Produced by: Steve Golin (man), Gail Mutrux (woman)
Shot by: Jean-Yves Escoffier (man)
Edited by: Joel Plotch (gender not listed), Steven Weisberg (man), Nick South (gender not listed)
Music by: Rolfe Kent (man)
Production design by: Charles William Breen (man)
Costumes by: Lynette Meyer (woman)
Cast by: Heidi Levitt (woman), Monika Mikkelsen (woman)