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Fails the Bechdel test

Observe and Report

2009. Directed by Jody Hill, written by Jody Hill.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    11 women characters. 4 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    Women do talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

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

Poster for Observe and Report

The film

Ronnie Barnhardt lives with his alcoholic mother. He's chief security guard at Forest Ridge Mall, where he's in love with Brandi, a cosmetic sales clerk, and gets a free coffee each day from Nell, a cheery clerk in the food court. A flasher haunts the mall's parking lot, and at night, thefts occur. Ronnie is intent on catching the criminals but has no investigative skills, is delusional about his abilities, and makes mad accusations. His bête noire is Detective Harrison, the city cop sent to investigate. Ronnie thinks he could be an officer, thinks he stands a chance with Brandi, and slowly loses his self control. Will reality set in? What about redemption?

Released
10 Apr 2009
Genres
Action, Comedy, Crime
Rated
R
IMDb
5.8 / 10
Metascore
54 / 100
Awards
1 win & 4 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Ronnie 473 lines, man
  2. Brandi 96 lines, woman
  3. Detective Harrison 96 lines, man
  4. Nell 59 lines, woman
  5. Mark 53 lines, man
  6. Mom 45 lines, woman
  7. Dennis 35 lines, man
  8. Charles 27 lines, man
  9. Bouncer 26 lines, man
  10. Stevie 26 lines, man
Full cast, 49 people
  • Seth Rogen as Ronnie Barnhardt
  • Ray Liotta as Detective Harrison
  • Anna Faris as Brandi
  • Michael Peña as Dennis
  • Dan Bakkedahl as Mark
  • Jesse Plemons as Charles
  • John Yuan as John Yuen
  • Matt Yuan as Matt Yuen
  • Celia Weston as Mom
  • Collette Wolfe as Nell
  • Randy Gambill as Flasher
  • Alston Brown as Bruce
  • Cody Midthunder as D-Rock
  • Debra-Jayne Brown as Female Reporter
  • Aziz Ansari as Saddamn
  • Eddie Rouse as Angry Store Owner
  • Patton Oswalt as Toast A Bun Manager
  • Lauren Miller Rogen as Girl Employee
  • Rafael Herrera as Janitor
  • Ben Best as Detective Nichols
  • William Sterchi as Department Store Manager
  • Robbie Hill as Tyler
  • Marlon Cunningham as Little Kid
  • Danny McBride as Caucasian Crackhead
  • Milos Milicevic as Random Crackhead
  • Antonia DeNardo as Hot Clerk
  • Danielle Martin as Young Girl
  • David House as Policeman
  • Fran Martone as Psychologist
  • Gail L. Harrington as Flashed Lady
  • Cody Weselis as Skateboarder
  • Wyatt Tipton as Skateboarder
  • Shane Habberstad as Skateboarder
  • Dylan Hice as Skateboarder
  • Lucy Hill as Makeup Counter Lady
  • Parker Ewing as Young Girl Shoplifter
  • Ivan Kraljević as Mall Patron
  • Amy Baklini as Young Mother (uncredited)
  • River Shields as Child in Mall (uncredited)
  • Kevin Christopher Brown as Police Officer (uncredited)
  • Zach Dulin as Mall Patron (uncredited)
  • Alison Grainger as Shopper (uncredited)
  • Jamie Haqqani as Detective (uncredited)
  • Carlton Liggins as Police Officer (uncredited)
  • Alexandria Morrow as Mall Girl (uncredited)
  • Paul J. Porter as Mall Shopper (uncredited)
  • Michael Neal Powell as Postman (uncredited)
  • Sandi K Shelby as Frightened Shopper (uncredited)
  • Z. Ray Wakeman as Mall Executive (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 94

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 200
3 to 405
5 to 600
7 to 8020
9 to 10828
11 to 121326
13 to 1404
15 to 161513
17 to 18039
19 to 20515
21 to 221340
23 to 2478
25 to 26029
27 to 28024
29 to 30036
31 to 3209
33 to 34018
35 to 361716
37 to 381328
39 to 401522
41 to 422321
43 to 44311
45 to 461920
47 to 48916
49 to 50033
51 to 52026
53 to 54021
55 to 56234
57 to 58723
59 to 6000
61 to 62830
63 to 6400
65 to 661218
67 to 6809
69 to 7004
71 to 7203
73 to 7427
75 to 7601
77 to 7800
79 to 8000
81 to 82019
83 to 84030
85 to 8697
87 to 88030
89 to 90623
91 to 9227
93 to 94712

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, 22 are women's.

215 lines from women, 785 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

11 women and 23 men in the cast. 4 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 35 of 1,052. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 121 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (2,396), men 83% (11,514). Women have 22% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Jody Hill (man)
Written by
Jody Hill (man)
Produced by
Donald De Line (man)
Shot by
Tim Orr (man)
Edited by
Zene Baker (man)
Music by
Joseph Stephens (man)
Production design by
Chris L. Spellman (man)
Costumes by
Gary Jones (man)
Cast by
Jo Edna Boldin (woman), Sheila Jaffe (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    2 women, 8 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 1 men, 4 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Other crew

    3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Sound

    0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 39 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Collette Wolfe 29, Anna Faris 32, Celia Weston 57

Men

Jesse Plemons 21, Seth Rogen 26, Michael Peña 33, John Yuan 35, Matt Yuan 35, Dan Bakkedahl 39, Ray Liotta 54

Exhibit G: the money

It made 1.3 times what it cost.

Budget
$18 million
Box office
$24 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 94 scenes and 1,052 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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