Passes the Bechdel test

Runaway Bride

Name: Runaway Bride
Released: 1999

1999. Directed by Garry Marshall, written by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
23 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 131.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

New York columnist Ike Graham elaborates, for once without full-fact checking, the story he heard from a bar-mate about small-town Maryland girl Maggie Carpenter, who left several grooms at the altar, taking off without warning or serious reason. Fearing a legal case from Maggie, Ike's editor and ex Ellie fires him. Staff buddy Fisher cues Ike to seek his job back (or earn another) by attempting to prove the alleged inaccuracies and/or writing a priceless follow-up piece. So his sports-car heads for her home in Hale, Maryland, where she runs a garage and designs glassware. His charm and journalistic nose get everyone to open up and reveal her embarrassing past before she can swear people to silence, from her family and three dumped grooms to her overconfident present groom, high-school coach Bob Kelly. In the process, Maggie finds hating Ike tempting but difficult, while Ike develops a strange appreciation for the maverick, until even Bob sees reason to get jealous.

Released: 30 Jul 1999
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Rated: PG
IMDb: 5.6 / 10
Metascore: 39 / 100
Awards: 6 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Maggie 284 lines, woman
Ike 275 lines, man
Peggy 73 lines, woman
Bob 51 lines, man
Fisher 30 lines, man
Ellie 24 lines, woman
Walter 23 lines, man
Mrs. Trout 19 lines, woman
Mrs. Pressman 18 lines, woman
Cindy 14 lines, woman

Full cast, 51 people

Julia Roberts as Maggie Carpenter
Richard Gere as Ike Graham
Joan Cusack as Peggy Flemming
Héctor Elizondo as Fisher
Rita Wilson as Ellie
Paul Dooley as Walter
Christopher Meloni as Coach Bob
Donal Logue as Priest Brian
Reg Rogers as George Bug Guy
Yul Vazquez as Dead Head Gill
Jane Morris as Mrs. Pressman
Lisa Roberts Gillan as Elaine from Manhattan
Kathleen Marshall as Cousin Cindy
Jean Schertler as Grandma
Tom Hines as Cory Flemming
Tom Mason as Final Wedding Pastor
Garrett Wright as Student Dennis
Sela Ward as Pretty Bar Woman
Marvin Braverman as T-Shirt Vendor
Yvonne Pollack as T-Shirt Lady
Joy Rosenthal as Limo Woman
John Goldman as Construction Man
Sandra Taylor as Model Shelby
Thong Nguyen as Fashion Shoot Photographer
Karen Stirgwolt as Office Worker Frances
Lee McKenna as Mrs. Whittenmeyer
Patrick Richwood as TV Host
Marty Nadler as Traveling Salesman
Allan Kent as Mr. Trout
Kevin Murray as Pete
James Richardson as Mr. Paxton
Duncan Lam as Dragged Little Boy
Julie Paris as Reporter Murphy
Dina Napoli as Reporter Dina
Jacqui Allen as Reporter Jacqui
Jack Hoffman as Reporter Jack
Cheryl Frazel as Reporter Cheryl
Tiffany Paulsen as Reporter Tiffany
Gregg Goulet as Church Organist
Shannon Wilcox as Luau Lady
Diana Kent as Hula Girl
Diane Frazen as Wedding Guest Diane
Karla Pattur as Church Teacher Karla
Linda Larkin as Gill's Girlfriend
William Todd Crosby as Barbershop Quartet
Robert Lee Jones as Barbershop Quartet
Joseph Williams Andrews as Barbershop Quartet
Eugene Walker Jackson Jr. as Barbershop Quartet
Garry Marshall as First Baseman in Softball (uncredited)
Larry Miller as Bartender (uncredited)
Laurie Metcalf as Betty Trout (uncredited)

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 131

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	6	36
7 to 9	1	3
10 to 12	4	2
13 to 15	24	2
16 to 18	4	2
19 to 21	11	13
22 to 24	3	18
25 to 27	0	3
28 to 30	32	16
31 to 33	14	12
34 to 36	14	35
37 to 39	22	28
40 to 42	30	33
43 to 45	23	8
46 to 48	4	2
49 to 51	2	3
52 to 54	0	0
55 to 57	33	9
58 to 60	7	8
61 to 63	39	21
64 to 66	16	13
67 to 69	5	9
70 to 72	10	8
73 to 75	0	34
76 to 78	6	8
79 to 81	36	34
82 to 84	21	18
85 to 87	14	9
88 to 90	5	0
91 to 93	0	0
94 to 96	19	2
97 to 99	5	19
100 to 102	12	11
103 to 105	2	3
106 to 108	3	5
109 to 111	12	2
112 to 114	8	5
115 to 117	1	0
118 to 120	0	0
121 to 123	0	0
124 to 126	23	17
127 to 129	0	0
130 to 131	0	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.

PEGGY: Yep. Maggie -- Someone to see you. MAGGIE: Reporter? PEGGY: Yup! MAGGIE: I hope you have a different angle. It's pretty much all been covered.

MAGGIE: Excellent. PEGGY: Hold on -- Nobody interviews Maggie in here unless they're getting haircut. MAGGIE: She's the boss.

MAGGIE: Yes. PEGGY: Let's just put this back here for the aromatherapy.

MRS. TROUT: -- The luau for Maggie. MAGGIE: Grandma made me the cutest outfit. I can't wait to show it to you.

GRANDMA JULIA: Good luck, Maggie. MAGGIE: Thank you, Grandma.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 51 are women's.

471 lines from women, 451 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

23 women and 26 men in the cast. 8 women and 16 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 934. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 38 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 50% of the words (5,251), men 50% (5,293). Women have 51% 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

3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 42% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Garry Marshall (man)
Written by: Josann McGibbon (woman), Sara Parriott (woman)
Produced by: Robert W. Cort (man), Ted Field (man), Scott Kroopf (man), Tom Rosenberg (man)
Shot by: Stuart Dryburgh (man)
Edited by: Bruce Green (man)
Music by: James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by: Mark Friedberg (man)
Cast by: Gretchen Rennell (woman)