Passes the Bechdel test

Silver Linings Playbook

Name: Silver Linings Playbook
Released: 2012

2012. Directed by David O. Russell, written by David O. Russell and Matthew Quick.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
12 women characters. 7 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 163.
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.

The film

Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr., caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland mental health institution after his minimum eight-month court ordered stint. The condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Nikki has since left him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication (which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life. His goals are to get his old job back as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are certain instances where he doesn't cope well; however, no less so than some others who have never been institutionalized, such as his Philadelphia Eagles obsessed father who has resorted to being a bookie to earn a living, his best friend Ronnie who quietly seethes over the control wielded by his wife Veronica, and Veronica's widowed sister, Tiffany Maxwell, a girl with problems of her own. In their fragile mental states, Pat Jr. and Tiffany embark on a love/hate friendship based primarily on what help the other can provide in achieving their individual goals. But they may reevaluate their goals as their relationship progresses.

Released: 25 Dec 2012
Genres: Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.7 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 90 wins & 148 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Pat 582 lines, man
Tiffany 278 lines, woman
Ronnie 95 lines, man
Dolores 88 lines, woman
Danny 54 lines, man
Randy 40 lines, man
Veronica 37 lines, woman
Officer Keogh 28 lines, man
Jake 26 lines, man
Nancy 11 lines, woman

Full cast, 63 people

Bradley Cooper as Pat Solatano Jr.
Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany Maxwell
Robert De Niro as Pat Solatano Sr.
Jacki Weaver as Dolores Solatano
Anupam Kher as Dr. Cliff Patel
Chris Tucker as Danny McDaniels
Julia Stiles as Veronica
Shea Whigham as Jake Solatano
John Ortiz as Ronnie
Paul Herman as Randy
Dash Mihok as Officer Keogh
Matthew Russell as Ricky D'Angelo
Cheryl Williams as Tiffany's Mother
Patrick McDade as Tiffany's Father
Brea Bee as Nikki
Mary Regency Boies as Regina
Phillip Chorba as Jordie
Anthony Lawton as Dr. Timbers
Patsy Meck as Nancy (High School Principal)
Maureen Torsney-Weir as Older Waitress
Jeff Reim as Jeffrey
Fritz Blanchette as Fritzy
Rick Foster as Dance Competition Announcer
Bonnie Aarons as Ricky D'Angelo's Mother
Ted Barba as Doug Culpepper
Elias Birnbaum as Ricky D'Angelo's Friend #1
Matthew Michaels as Ricky D'Angelo's Friend #2
Pete Postiglione as Lawyer at Bar
Dicky Eklund Jr. as Fighting Eagle Fan
Sanjay Shende as Indian Invasion #1
Mihir Pathak as Indian Invasion #2
Ibrahim Syed as Indian Invasion #3
Madhu Narula as Dr. Patel's Wife
Samantha Gelnaw as Jake's Fiancée
Tiffany E. Green as Tanya
Tal Lifshitz as Dancer Santos
Vlada Semenova as Dancer Aguilar
Zhan Paulovich as Dancer Makarov
Lana Rossi as Dancer Tretiak
Todd Anthony as Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Traci Law as Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Carol Anne Mueller as Dance Competition Spectator (uncredited)
Robert Bizik as Neighbor (uncredited)
Jeffrey Mowery as Neighbor (uncredited)
Joe Cappelletti as Football Play By Play Announcer (voice, uncredited)
Lindsay Schnebly as Football Play By Play Announcer (voice, uncredited)
Luisa Diaz as MILF (uncredited)
Liam Ferguson as Singing Eagles Fan (uncredited)
Jae Greene as Tailgater (uncredited)
Marty Krzywonos as Tailgater (uncredited)
Matthew James Gulbranson as Father (uncredited)
David Kneeream as Moviegoer (uncredited)
Raymond Mamrak as Tailgate Fan (uncredited)
Montana Marks as Bikini Tailgater (uncredited)
Jeni Miller as Sexy Girl at Halloween Party (uncredited)
Charles Pendelton as Recital Guest (uncredited)
Vincent Riviezzo as Giants Fan (uncredited)
Ryan Shank as Bartender (uncredited)
Ryan Tygh as Zombie Guy (uncredited)
Jen Weissenberg as Tomboy Girl (uncredited)
Brian Anthony Wilson as Orderly (uncredited)
Mike Wilson as Eagles Tailgater (uncredited)
Thomas Walton as Giants Suck - Fan (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 163

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	6
5 to 8	1	3
9 to 12	5	13
13 to 16	2	2
17 to 20	2	13
21 to 24	6	23
25 to 28	0	1
29 to 32	4	14
33 to 36	0	10
37 to 40	0	4
41 to 44	0	4
45 to 48	7	19
49 to 52	5	3
53 to 56	15	40
57 to 60	1	22
61 to 64	23	75
65 to 68	46	34
69 to 72	2	4
73 to 76	1	3
77 to 80	6	8
81 to 84	5	8
85 to 88	3	6
89 to 92	1	9
93 to 96	1	5
97 to 100	18	29
101 to 104	51	45
105 to 108	23	29
109 to 112	9	41
113 to 116	26	96
117 to 120	25	20
121 to 124	0	0
125 to 128	17	53
129 to 132	13	31
133 to 136	46	106
137 to 140	15	1
141 to 144	3	1
145 to 148	10	16
149 to 152	18	16
153 to 156	10	16
157 to 160	9	14
161 to 163	1	7

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.

TIFFANY: Does it really matter? VERONICA: Baby, how's it going?

VERONICA: Everyone having fun? We're gonna go on a tour now. We're gonna go on a tour now. TIFFANY: Let's go see the house.

TIFFANY: It's a light. It's a... VERONICA: Ooh, ooh, warmer, warmer, warmer. TIFFANY: ...it's a drawer at a morgue where they pull out dead bodies and shoot them with formaldehyde. VERONICA: Don't think so hard, don't think so hard.

TIFFANY: It's a joke! VERONICA: It's a...fireplace. TIFFANY: In the middle of the wall?

VERONICA: Gimme your iPod. VERONICA: Give it to me. Thank you, baby, thank you. TIFFANY: Of all the rooms there are iPod ports in, I'm happy you brought us into the bathroom. VERONICA: Look, look, look.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.

430 lines from women, 850 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 26 men in the cast. 7 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 10 of 1,300. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 55 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 29% of the words (3,750), men 71% (8,968). Women have 34% 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

5 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: David O. Russell (man)
Written by: David O. Russell (man)
From the novel by: Matthew Quick (man)
Produced by: Bruce Cohen (man), Donna Gigliotti (woman), Jonathan Gordon (man)
Shot by: Masanobu Takayanagi (man)
Edited by: Jay Cassidy (man), Crispin Struthers (man)
Music by: Danny Elfman (man)
Production design by: Judy Becker (woman)
Costumes by: Mark Bridges (man)
Cast by: Mary Vernieu (woman), Lindsay Graham Ahanonu (woman), Patty Connolly (woman)