Passes the Bechdel test
Running Scared
1986. Directed by Peter Hyams, written by Gary DeVore and Jimmy Huston.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 180. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Danny and Ray are two street wise cops in Chicago. When they are almost killed on a case, they are forced to take a vacation by their captain. Key West offers a substantial change over Chicago. They decide to quit and open a bar there. Upon returning, they find that Julio, the drug dealer who nearly killed them, has made bail and is trying to complete a giant drug deal. They decide to complete their case against him before quitting, but then begin being careful. Their effectiveness drops as they find they can't operate the way they did before if they don't have the edge of a long time commitment.
- Released
- 27 Jun 1986
- Genres
- Action, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Danny 313 lines, man
- Ray 302 lines, man
- Snake 47 lines, man
- Capt. Logan 35 lines, man
- Gonzales 28 lines, man
- Anna 25 lines, woman
- Maryann 25 lines, woman
- Carlos 23 lines, man
- Tony 21 lines, man
- Juan 13 lines, man
Full cast, 55 people
- Gregory Hines as Ray Hughes
- Billy Crystal as Danny Costanzo
- Steven Bauer as Det. Frank Sigliano
- Darlanne Fluegel as Anna Costanzo
- Joe Pantoliano as Snake
- Dan Hedaya as Captain Logan
- Jon Gries as Det. Tony Montoya
- Tracy Reed as Maryann
- Jimmy Smits as Julio Gonzales
- John DiSanti as Vinnie
- Larry Hankin as Ace
- Don Calfa as Women's Room Lawyer
- Robert Lesser as Supoena Lawyer
- Betty Carvalho as Apartment Manager
- Louis Perez as Thug
- Etel Billig as Aunt Sophie
- Meg Register as Julie
- Deanna Dunagan as Sister Rebecca
- Jim Ortlieb as Lab Technician
- Julian Pena as Columbian Youth
- Ernest Perry Jr. as Adam Robertson
- Ron Cummins as Paging Officer
- Natividad Ríos Kearsley as Nude Woman
- John LaMotta as Evidence Officer
- Richard Kuss as Desk Officer
- Jeff Silverman as Property Officer
- Dax Brooks as Apartment Manager's Son
- Jaime Alba as Tatoo Customer
- Debbie Johnson as Lunch Girl
- Fred Buch as Bank Manager
- Ricardo Gutiérrez as Sgt. Garcia
- Frankie Davila as Juan Martinez
- James Noah as Funeral Priest
- Bob Zrna as Father Gibson
- Joe Guastaferro as Fireman
- Mike Bacarella as TV Box Loader
- Johnny O'Donnell as Punk
- Richard Wharton as Punk
- Tony Zurita Jr. as Camino Real Kid
- Saralynne Crittenden as Hostage Lady
- Alex Leonard Jenkins as Impound Officer
- William Lozada as Basketball Punk
- Irma O'Quendo as Hispanic Girl
- Charles D. Scholvin as Guard
- Joel Becker as Custom Official
- Kevin Bassett as Extra (uncredited)
- Stephen Burrows as Perplexed EL Passenger (uncredited)
- Luis Contreras as Thug (uncredited)
- Bob Harks as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Robert A. Janz as Motorman (uncredited)
- James Leaming as Undercover Cop (uncredited)
- Al Leong as Henchman (uncredited)
- Robert Minkoff as Bit (uncredited)
- Rick Sawaya as Snake's Killer (uncredited)
- Adrian Tafoya as Police Officer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 180
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 4 | 0 | 38 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 21 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 34 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 12 | 61 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 | 17 |
| 25 to 28 | 2 | 41 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 36 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 23 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 75 |
| 41 to 44 | 3 | 23 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 33 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 6 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 28 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 12 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 15 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 32 |
| 69 to 72 | 3 | 29 |
| 73 to 76 | 9 | 44 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 14 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 36 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 17 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 14 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 4 |
| 101 to 104 | 1 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 1 |
| 109 to 112 | 1 | 5 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 5 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 1 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 31 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 20 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 11 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 6 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 5 |
| 149 to 152 | 13 | 14 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 19 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 2 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 28 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 2 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 1 |
| 177 to 180 | 5 | 32 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ANNA: Now that you're older and more responsible. MARYANN: HON many candles are there?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 7 are women's.
66 lines from women, 865 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 32 men in the cast. 4 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 105 of 960.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 168 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 6% of the words (496), men 94% (7,875). Women have 7% 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
1
Two men
97
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 5% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Hyams (man)
- Written by
- Gary DeVore (man), Jimmy Huston (man)
- Story by
- Gary DeVore (man)
- Produced by
- David Foster (man), Lawrence Turman (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Hyams (man)
- Edited by
- James Mitchell (man)
- Music by
- Rod Temperton (man)
- Production design by
- Albert Brenner (man)
- Cast by
- Penny Perry (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 11 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 13 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Darlanne Fluegel 32, Tracy Reed 36
Men
Steven Bauer 29, Jon Gries 29, Jimmy Smits 30, Joe Pantoliano 34, Billy Crystal 38, Gregory Hines 40, Dan Hedaya 45, John DiSanti 48
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $38.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 180 scenes and 960 lines of dialogue. How the test works
