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Passes the Bechdel test

Sideways

2004. Directed by Alexander Payne, written by Rex Pickett and Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    12 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 4 scenes out of 177.
  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 Sideways

The film

A week before his friend Jack is to be married, best man Miles and the prospective groom head off to wine country for a week of fun, relaxation and - of course - wine drinking. Miles is the oenophile and does his best to teach Jack a bit about the art of appreciating great wine. All Jack cares about is drinking and carousing, something he accomplishes when he meets the attractive Stephanie at one of the vineyards. Miles is something of a sad sack, a high school English teacher who is a failed writer at heart. He has yet to get over the fact that his wife has divorced him and that she has remarried and he now faces that nerve racking wait for word from a prospective publisher. Miles has an opportunity to start anew when he meets Stephanie's friend Maya but when he lets slip that Jack is about to be married any hope of a relationship seems to be lost.

Released
22 Oct 2004
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated
R
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
94 / 100
Awards
Won 1 Oscar. 123 wins & 91 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Miles 415 lines, man
  2. Jack 374 lines, man
  3. Maya 101 lines, woman
  4. Stephanie 36 lines, woman
  5. Victoria 21 lines, woman
  6. Phyllis 20 lines
  7. Christine 16 lines, woman
  8. Cammi 11 lines, woman
  9. Gary 11 lines, man
  10. Evelyn 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 36 people
  • Paul Giamatti as Miles
  • Thomas Haden Church as Jack
  • Virginia Madsen as Maya
  • Sandra Oh as Stephanie
  • Marylouise Burke as Miles's Mother
  • Jessica Hecht as Victoria
  • Missy Doty as Cammi
  • M.C. Gainey as Cammi's Husband
  • Alysia Reiner as Christine Erganian
  • Shake Tukhmanyan as Mrs. Erganian
  • Shaun Duke as Mike Erganian
  • Robert Covarrubias as Miles's Building Manager
  • Patrick Gallagher as Gary the Bartender
  • Stephanie Faracy as Stephanie's Mother
  • Joe Marinelli as Frass Canyon Pourer
  • Chris Burroughs as Chris at Stanford
  • Toni Howard as Evelyn Berman-Silverman (voice)
  • Khoren Babouchian as Armenian Priest
  • Lee Brooks as Ken Cortland
  • Peter Dennis as Leslie Brough
  • Alison Herson as Foxen Winery Pourer
  • Phil Reeves as Vacationing Dr. Walt Hendricks
  • Rob Trow as Obnoxious Golfer
  • Lacey Rae as Los Olivos Waitress
  • Cesar Ramos as Barista
  • Daniel Rogers as Reciting Eighth Grader
  • Natalie Carter as Siena
  • Simon Kassis as Mini-Mart Owner
  • Sevag Kendirjian as Armenian Deacon
  • Jaren Coler as Acoustic Guitarist
  • Chris Astoyan as Mrs. Erganian's Son (uncredited)
  • JR Garcia as Little Boy (uncredited)
  • Gregory Heath as Tasting Room Customer (uncredited)
  • Alex Kalognomos as Alex (uncredited)
  • Parker Quinn as Customer in Shoe Store (uncredited)
  • Mikael Sharafyan as Armenian Wedding Guest (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 177

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 404
5 to 806
9 to 1256
13 to 16343
17 to 201221
21 to 2409
25 to 2809
29 to 32010
33 to 36024
37 to 40046
41 to 44019
45 to 481967
49 to 52221
53 to 56030
57 to 601236
61 to 642738
65 to 68421
69 to 724136
73 to 7694
77 to 80730
81 to 8400
85 to 8800
89 to 9200
93 to 96239
97 to 10027
101 to 104015
105 to 108056
109 to 11232
113 to 11603
117 to 12000
121 to 1241110
125 to 128227
129 to 132013
133 to 136912
137 to 140420
141 to 144118
145 to 148843
149 to 15209
153 to 15657
157 to 16015
161 to 164014
165 to 168021
169 to 1721113
173 to 17645
177 to 17710

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.
MRS. ERGANIAN: Christine, why don't you ask Miles about the cake? CHRISTINE: Oh, good idea. Here, Miles, come to the kitchen with me.
MAYA: You choose, Stephanie. STEPHANIE: So what does everyone feel like?
MAYA: Well, in that case... STEPHANIE: What's everyone ordering? Then we can sort out the wine.
MAYA: Well, that narrows things down. STEPHANIE: Sounds like... Pinot Noir to me.
STEPHANIE: Excuse us. MAYA: Sorry to make you get up again, Miles.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.

205 lines from women, 819 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 15 men in the cast. 8 women and 5 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 17 of 1,073. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 177 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 19% of the words (2,103), men 81% (9,081). Women have 20% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Alexander Payne (man)
Written by
Alexander Payne (man), Jim Taylor (man)
From the novel by
Rex Pickett (man)
Produced by
Michael London (man)
Shot by
Phedon Papamichael (man)
Edited by
Kevin Tent (man)
Music by
Rolfe Kent (man)
Production design by
Jane Ann Stewart (woman)
Costumes by
Wendy Chuck (woman)
Cast by
John Jackson (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    1 women, 4 men

  • Art

    3 women, 1 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Lighting

    0 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 42 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Missy Doty 32, Sandra Oh 33, Alysia Reiner 34, Jessica Hecht 39, Virginia Madsen 43, Shake Tukhmanyan 52, Marylouise Burke 63

Men

Paul Giamatti 37, Thomas Haden Church 44, M.C. Gainey 56

Exhibit H: the money

It made 6.8 times what it cost.

Budget
$16 million
Box office
$110 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 177 scenes and 1,073 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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