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Passes the Bechdel test

Please Give

2010. Directed by Nicole Holofcener, written by Nicole Holofcener.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    20 women characters. 17 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 34 scenes out of 114.
  3. 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.

Poster for Please Give

The film

Two families, sort of neighbours in Manhattan, cross paths as they navigate marriage, parenthood of a teen, ennui, a first date, and end-of-life care. Rebecca and Mary are sisters; their cranky 91-year-old grandmother's neighbours, Kate and Alex, run an upscale retro-furniture business, and will expand into her flat after she dies. Rebecca is quiet, without a boyfriend until a patient at the clinic where she works introduces her grandson. Mary is acerbic, stung by a recent breakup. Kate looks for meaning in her life, wondering if she should volunteer. Alex, too, is at loose ends. Their daughter, Abby, has zits and teenage moods. What does it mean to be good?

Released
18 Jun 2010
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
6.6 / 10
Metascore
78 / 100
Awards
5 wins & 18 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Kate 254 lines, woman
  2. Mary 164 lines, woman
  3. Rebecca 164 lines, woman
  4. Alex 153 lines, man
  5. Abby 141 lines, woman
  6. Andra 64 lines, woman
  7. Eugene 26 lines, man
  8. Mrs. Portman 17 lines, woman
  9. Adam 13 lines, man
  10. Paulette 13 lines
Full cast, 35 people
  • Catherine Keener as Kate
  • Amanda Peet as Mary
  • Oliver Platt as Alex
  • Rebecca Hall as Rebecca
  • Ann Morgan Guilbert as Andra
  • Lois Smith as Mrs. Portman
  • Sarah Steele as Abby
  • Thomas Ian Nicholas as Eugene
  • Elizabeth Keener as Cathy
  • Elise Ivy as Marissa
  • Josh Pais as Adam
  • Griffin Frazen as Shopper
  • Reggie Austin as Shopper
  • Scott Cohen as Dr. Lerner
  • Paul Sparks as Blind Date
  • Amy Wright as Erin
  • Arthur French as Man Waiting for a Table
  • Neal Lerner as Leaf Man
  • Mandy Olsen Cogman as Salesgirl
  • Maddie Corman as Shopper
  • Alice Spivak as Shopper
  • John Srednicki as Tommy
  • Timothy Doyle as Kevin
  • Emma Myles as Salesgirl
  • Rebecca Budig as Big Back
  • Romy Rosemont as Carrie-Ann
  • Kathleen Doyle as Anita
  • Sarah Vowell as Shopper
  • Jason Mantzoukas as Shopper
  • Kevin Corrigan as Don
  • Elizabeth Berridge as Elyse
  • Erica Fae as Shopper
  • Michael Panes as Shopper
  • Charles Techman as Homeless Man
  • Portia as Mrs. Melnick

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 114

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 300
4 to 680
7 to 9107
10 to 12374
13 to 154013
16 to 181615
19 to 21124
22 to 242817
25 to 271711
28 to 302610
31 to 33362
34 to 36636
37 to 395411
40 to 4210
43 to 45259
46 to 482114
49 to 51383
52 to 5442
55 to 57460
58 to 60383
61 to 6382
64 to 6622
67 to 69178
70 to 72290
73 to 75123
76 to 78387
79 to 81104
82 to 842215
85 to 874111
88 to 901413
91 to 9330
94 to 96390
97 to 99154
100 to 102441
103 to 105220
106 to 1082215
109 to 11156
112 to 114227

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.
CATHY: I think they’re at their peak this week-end. MARISSA: I can’t go til the end of the month. CATHY: That’s too bad. They might be over by then. MARISSA: I know. And New York magazine gave a list where they’re the best this year.
KATE: Weirdly hot today, huh? REBECCA: I work inside. KATE: You had to go outside to get to work. And to leave work, right? KATE: How’s your grandmother?
ANDRA: I don’t know why you don’t go to Associated. REBECCA: You do know. ANDRA: If it was your money you’d walk the extra six blocks. REBECCA: It’s ten blocks. And no I wouldn’t.
KATE: Why does she hate us so much? What did we do to her? ABBY: She sees you, she sees death. You’re a vulture. KATE: Us buying that apartment has no down side. Her grandmother’s still living there, we’re not hovering. The only difference to her is that now … ABBY: You’re a saint.
REBECCA: What shall we do for your birthday? Mary and I will take you out. ANDRA: Mary? REBECCA: Sure. She’s just been really busy.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 79 are women's.

885 lines from women, 229 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

20 women and 15 men in the cast. 17 women and 6 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 10 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 80% of the words (6,556), men 20% (1,605). Women have 79% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 51% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Nicole Holofcener (woman)
Written by
Nicole Holofcener (woman)
Produced by
Anthony Bregman (man)
Shot by
Yaron Orbach (man)
Edited by
Robert Frazen (man)
Music by
Marcelo Zarvos (man)
Production design by
Mark White (man), Kris Moran (woman)
Costumes by
Ane Crabtree (woman)
Cast by
Jeanne McCarthy (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Art

    8 women, 5 men, 20 not listed

  • Production

    11 women, 3 men, 10 not listed

  • Camera

    2 women, 4 men, 15 not listed

  • Sound

    5 women, 11 men, 4 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 0 men, 11 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 2 men, 10 not listed

  • Directing

    3 women, 0 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 46 on average. Men: 40 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Sarah Steele 21, Rebecca Hall 27, Elise Ivy 29, Amanda Peet 38, Elizabeth Keener 43, Catherine Keener 51, Lois Smith 79, Ann Morgan Guilbert 81

Men

Thomas Ian Nicholas 29, Oliver Platt 50

Exhibit H: the money

It made 1.4 times what it cost.

Budget
$3 million
Box office
$4.3 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 114 scenes and 1,162 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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