Fails the Bechdel test
Reindeer Games
2000. Directed by John Frankenheimer, written by Ehren Kruger.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
After being imprisoned for six years on a grand theft auto charge, Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is days away from release as is his cellmate Nick (James Frain) who is is serving a two year sentence on a separate charge. Nick has a number of pictures from a romantic correspondence with a woman named Ashley he has never met but is waiting for his release. Rudy is looking forward to returning to his family and having a fresh cup of hot chocolate. Nick is killed defending Rudy during a prison riot. When Rudy Is released the next day from prison he recognizes Ashley waiting outside the prison for Nick and Rudy takes his place and pretends to be Nick. Nick had spoken of his previous employment in security with an Indian casino and Rudy finds himself involved with Ashley's criminal gun runner brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise). Rudy is violently coerced to cooperate with a Christmas Eve casino robbery scheme that Gabriel and his gang have been planning with Nick's casino knowledge as the key. Things don't go as planned with a number of plot twists and double crosses.
- Released
- 25 Feb 2000
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 37 / 100
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rudy 339 lines, man
- Gabriel 172 lines, man
- Ashley 170 lines, woman
- Nick 71 lines, man
- Merlin 45 lines, man
- Jack Bangs 36 lines, man
- Jumpy 21 lines, man
- Pug 20 lines, man
- Waitress 8 lines, woman
- Old Timer 7 lines, man
Full cast, 34 people
- Ben Affleck as Rudy Duncan
- Charlize Theron as Ashley Mercer
- Gary Sinise as Gabriel Mercer
- Dennis Farina as Jack Banks
- Clarence Williams III as Merlin
- Danny Trejo as Jumpy
- Donal Logue as Pug
- James Frain as Nick Cassidy
- Isaac Hayes as Zock
- Ashton Kutcher as College Kid
- Dana Stubblefield as The Alamo
- Tom Heaton as Ugly Staffer
- Hrothgar Mathews as Exit Guard
- Mark Acheson as Mean Guard
- Enuka Okuma as Cocktail Waitress #1
- Michael Sunczyk as Distant Inmate #1
- Douglas Arthurs as Distant Inmate #2
- Dean Wray as Guard #1
- Ron Sauvé as Guard #2
- Ron Jeremy as Prisoner #1
- Lonny Chapman as Old Timer
- Robyn Driscoll as Desk Clerk
- Alonso Oyarzun as Casino Dealer
- Ron Perkins as Ice Fisherman
- Gordon Tootoosis as Old Governor
- Lee Jay Bamberry as New Governor
- Paula Shaw as Aunt Lisbeth
- Don S. Williams as Uncle Ray
- Michael Puttonen as Bill
- Ken Camroux-Taylor as Father
- Jimmy Herman as Bartender
- Govindini Murty as Casino Hostess
- Larry Lam as Prisoner (uncredited)
- James Hutson as Mike
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 138
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 27 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 36 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 51 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 14 | 16 |
| 22 to 24 | 19 | 16 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 16 | 49 |
| 31 to 33 | 28 | 71 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 19 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 40 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 13 | 22 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 16 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 23 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 32 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 5 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 6 |
| 70 to 72 | 10 | 39 |
| 73 to 75 | 6 | 50 |
| 76 to 78 | 6 | 13 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 1 |
| 82 to 84 | 13 | 15 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 2 | 8 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 2 | 13 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 20 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 16 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 9 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 5 |
| 127 to 129 | 3 | 39 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 135 | 13 | 49 |
| 136 to 138 | 1 | 1 |
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, 19 are women's.
180 lines from women, 753 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 29 men in the cast. 1 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 124 of 945.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 123 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (1,686), men 84% (8,566). Women have 19% 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
Two women
0
Two men
61
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Frankenheimer (man)
- Written by
- Ehren Kruger (man)
- Produced by
- Marty Katz (man), Chris Moore (man), Bob Weinstein (man)
- Shot by
- Alan Caso (man)
- Edited by
- Antony Gibbs (man), Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- Alan Silvestri (man)
- Production design by
- Barbara Dunphy (woman)
- Costumes by
- May Routh (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Doyle (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 8 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 8 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men
-
Art
4 women, 1 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Charlize Theron 24
Men
Ashton Kutcher 22, Ben Affleck 27, James Frain 31, Donal Logue 33, Gary Sinise 44, Dennis Farina 55, Danny Trejo 55, Isaac Hayes 57, Clarence Williams III 60
Exhibit G: the money
It made 77% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $42 million
- Box office
- $32.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 138 scenes and 945 lines of dialogue. How the test works
