Fails the Bechdel test
Public Enemies
2009. Directed by Michael Mann, written by Ronan Bennett and Michael Mann and Ann Biderman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 12 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 1 out of 3.
The film
The difficult 1930s is a time of robbers who knock over banks and other rich targets with alarming frequency. Of them, none is more notorious than John Dillinger, whose gang plies its trade with cunning efficiency against big businesses while leaving ordinary citizens alone. As Dillinger becomes a folk hero, FBI head J. Edger Hoover is determined to stop his ilk by assigning ace agent Melvin Purvis to hunt down Dillinger. As Purvis struggles with the manhunt's realities, Dillinger himself faces an ominous future with the loss of friends, dwindling options, and a changing world of organized crime with no room for him.
- Released
- 01 Jul 2009
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dillinger 220 lines, man
- Purvis 87 lines, man
- Billie 74 lines, woman
- Hoover 38 lines, man
- Winstead 30 lines, man
- Hamilton 20 lines
- Karpis 20 lines, man
- Anna Sage 16 lines, woman
- D'Andrea 15 lines, man
- Pierpont 14 lines, man
Full cast, 102 people
- Johnny Depp as John Dillinger
- Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis
- Marion Cotillard as Billie Frechette
- Jason Clarke as 'Red' Hamilton
- Rory Cochrane as Agent Carter Baum
- Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover
- Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter
- Stephen Lang as Charles Winstead
- John Ortiz as Phil D'Andrea
- Giovanni Ribisi as Alvin Karpis
- David Wenham as Harry 'Pete' Pierpont
- John Michael Bolger as Martin Zarkovich
- Bill Camp as Frank Nitti
- Matt Craven as Gerry Campbell
- Don Frye as Clarence Hurt
- Christian Stolte as Charles Makley
- Spencer Garrett as Tommy Carroll
- Peter Gerety as Louis Piquett
- Shawn Hatosy as Agent John Madala
- Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson
- John Hoogenakker as Agent Hugh Clegg
- Branka Katić as Anna Sage
- Domenick Lombardozzi as Gilbert Catena
- Emilie de Ravin as Anna Patzke
- Leelee Sobieski as Polly Hamilton
- David Warshofsky as Warden Baker
- Carey Mulligan as Carol Slayman
- Channing Tatum as Pretty Boy Floyd
- John Judd as Turnkey
- Michael Vieau as Ed Shouse
- John Kishline as Guard Dainard
- James Russo as Walter Dietrich
- Wesley Walker as Jim Leslie
- John Scherp as Earl Adams
- Elena Kenney as Viola Norris
- William Nero Jr. as Toddler on Farm
- Madison Dirks as Agent Warren Barton
- Len Bajenski as Police Chief Fultz
- Adam Clark as Sport
- Andrzej Krukowski as Oscar Lieboldt
- Casey Siemaszko as Harry Berman
- Peter DeFaria as Grover Weyland
- Jonathan Macchi as Tellers
- Jeff Shannon as Angry Cop
- Michael Sassone as Farmer
- Brian Connelly as Officer Chester Boyard
- Ed Bruce as Senator McKellar
- Geoffrey Cantor as Harry Suydam
- Chandler Williams as Clyde Tolson
- Robert Brooks Hollingsworth as Hoover Reporter #1
- David Paul Innes as Hoover Reporter #2
- Joe Carlson as Hoover Reporter #3
- Ben Mac Brown as Hoover Reporter #4
- Diana Krall as Torch Singer
- Duane Sharp as Doorman at Gold Coast
- Richard Short as Agent Sam Cowley
- Randy Ryan as Agent Julius Rice
- Kurt Naebig as Agent William Rorer
- Adam Mucci as Agent Harold Reinecke
- Rebecca Spence as Doris Rogers
- Danni Simon as May Minczeles
- Don Harvey as Customer at Steuben Club
- Shanyn Leigh as Helen Gillis
- Laurence Mason as Porter at Union Station
- Randy Steinmeyer as Cop Eyman
- Kris Wolff as Deputy
- Lili Taylor as Sheriff Lillian Holley
- Donald G. Asher as Reporter #1
- Andrew C. Steele as Reporter #2
- Philip M. Potempa as Reporter #3
- Brian McConkey as Photographer
- Alan Wilder as Robert Estill
- Michael Bentt as Herbert Youngblood
- John Lister as Judge Murray
- Jim Carrane as Sam Cahoon
- Joseph Mazurk as Guard Bryant
- John Fenner Mays as Deputy Blunk
- Rick Uecker as Edward Saager
- Craig Spidle as Reporter
- Jason T. Arnold as Other Jr. G-Man
- Andrew Blair as Other Jr. G-Man
- Mark Vallarta as Harry Berg
- Daniel Maldonado as Jacob Solomon
- Sean A. Rosales as Joe Pawlowski
- Stephen Spencer as Emil Wanatka
- Patrick Zielinski as Doctor
- Gareth Saxe as Agent Ray Suran
- Guy Van Swearingen as Agent Ralph Brown
- Jeff Still as Jimmy Probasco
- Lance Baker as Freddie Barker
- Steve Key as Doc Barker
- Jerry Goff as Captain O'Neill
- David Carde as Special Agent
- Aaron Roman Weiner as Special Agent
- Keith Kupferer as Agent Sopsic
- Turk Muller as Other East Chicago Cop
- Tim Grimm as Other East Chicago Cop
- Martie Sanders as Irene the Ticket Taker
- Robyn LeAnn Scott as Ella Natasky
- Jordan Lawson as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Angelina Lyubomirova as Coat Check Girl (uncredited)
- Joel Thingvall as FBI Agent (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 242
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 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 to 24 | 3 | 19 |
| 25 to 30 | 1 | 43 |
| 31 to 36 | 0 | 18 |
| 37 to 42 | 0 | 12 |
| 43 to 48 | 17 | 57 |
| 49 to 54 | 18 | 42 |
| 55 to 60 | 7 | 26 |
| 61 to 66 | 0 | 7 |
| 67 to 72 | 0 | 18 |
| 73 to 78 | 7 | 34 |
| 79 to 84 | 0 | 24 |
| 85 to 90 | 6 | 35 |
| 91 to 96 | 0 | 16 |
| 97 to 102 | 5 | 8 |
| 103 to 108 | 3 | 40 |
| 109 to 114 | 0 | 29 |
| 115 to 120 | 0 | 23 |
| 121 to 126 | 0 | 12 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 5 |
| 133 to 138 | 0 | 9 |
| 139 to 144 | 0 | 5 |
| 145 to 150 | 0 | 10 |
| 151 to 156 | 0 | 10 |
| 157 to 162 | 0 | 1 |
| 163 to 168 | 1 | 6 |
| 169 to 174 | 3 | 9 |
| 175 to 180 | 13 | 15 |
| 181 to 186 | 3 | 8 |
| 187 to 192 | 5 | 5 |
| 193 to 198 | 14 | 18 |
| 199 to 204 | 9 | 36 |
| 205 to 210 | 1 | 11 |
| 211 to 216 | 1 | 8 |
| 217 to 222 | 0 | 4 |
| 223 to 228 | 0 | 2 |
| 229 to 234 | 1 | 22 |
| 235 to 240 | 0 | 31 |
| 241 to 242 | 4 | 5 |
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, 15 are women's.
122 lines from women, 704 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 71 men in the cast. 12 women and 106 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 33 of 969.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 165 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 (1,837), men 85% (10,271).
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
1
Two men
87
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Michael Mann (man)
- Written by
- Ann Biderman (woman), Ronan Bennett (man), Michael Mann (man)
- From the novel by
- Bryan Burrough (man)
- Produced by
- Kevin Misher (man), Michael Mann (man)
- Shot by
- Dante Spinotti (man)
- Edited by
- Paul Rubell (man), Jeffrey Ford (man)
- Music by
- Elliot Goldenthal (man)
- Production design by
- Nathan Crowley (man)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman), Bonnie Timmermann (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 14 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 23 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 12 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Marion Cotillard 33
Men
Giovanni Ribisi 34, Christian Bale 35, Stephen Dorff 35, Rory Cochrane 37, Jason Clarke 39, Billy Crudup 40, John Ortiz 41, Johnny Depp 46, Stephen Lang 56
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $100 million
- Box office
- $214 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 242 scenes and 969 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
