Passes the Bechdel test
Space Cowboys
2000. Directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 182. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
When a Russian satellite orbiting the Earth starts to veer off course, it seems like the guidance system in the satellite is of American origin. It's important to try and fix it before it comes into the atmosphere. NASA leader Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) tries to find out who designed it and discovers that it was Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), an Air Force pilot who, forty years ago, was part of a team who was originally supposed to go to space, but when NASA was formed, and under Bob's influence, they were dropped. Bob asks Frank to help, but he still holds a grudge. But after some prodding, he agrees but only if he and his team can go there so he can fix it. Bob reluctantly agrees, so Frank recruits his former teammates, "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland), and "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), to join him. After some strenuous tests, they're cleared. And they go up with two other astronauts, check out the satellite, and discover that they weren't told the whole truth.
- Released
- 04 Aug 2000
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frank 252 lines, man
- Hawk 153 lines, man
- Sara 88 lines, woman
- Gerson 69 lines, man
- Davis 52 lines, man
- Jerry 52 lines, man
- Tank 52 lines, man
- Ethan 45 lines, man
- Roger 29 lines, man
- Barbara 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 44 people
- Clint Eastwood as Frank Corvin
- Tommy Lee Jones as Hawk Hawkins
- Donald Sutherland as Jerry O'Neill
- James Garner as Tank Sullivan
- James Cromwell as Bob Gerson
- Marcia Gay Harden as Sara Holland
- William Devane as Eugene Davis
- Loren Dean as Ethan Glance
- Courtney B. Vance as Roger Hines
- Barbara Babcock as Barbara Corvin
- Rade Šerbedžija as General Vostov
- Blair Brown as Dr. Anne Caruthers
- James MacDonald as Capcom
- Jon Hamm as Young Pilot #2
- Toby Stephens as Young Frank
- Anne Stedman as Jason's Girlfriend
- Jay Leno as Jay Leno
- Nils Allen Stewart as Tiny
- Eli Craig as Young Hawk
- John Asher as Young Jerry
- Matt McColm as Young Tank
- Billie Worley as Young Gerson
- Mark Thomason as Mission Control Tech
- Georgia Emelin as Jerry's Girlfriend
- Rick Scarry as State Department Official
- Tim Halligan as Qualls
- Steve Monroe as Waiter
- Gordy Owens as Simsupe
- Kate McNeil as Female Astronaut #1
- Karen M. Waldron as Female Astronaut #2
- John Linton as Male Astronaut #1
- Paul Pender as JBC Security Guard
- Steven West as Construction Tech
- Cooper Huckabee as Trajectory Engineer
- Hayden Tank as Boy at NASA Tour
- Gerald Emerick as T-38 Pilot
- Renee Olstead as Little Girl
- Don Michaelson as NASA Doctor
- Steve Stapenhorst as Vice President
- Lauren Cohn as Teacher at NASA Tour
- Chris Wylde as Jason
- Erica Grant as Female Engineer
- Kristin Quick as Young Museum Attendant
- Deborah Jolly as Cocktail Waitress
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 182
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 | 3 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 16 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 16 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 9 | 15 |
| 29 to 32 | 16 | 40 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 36 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 12 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 31 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 22 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 5 |
| 53 to 56 | 23 | 38 |
| 57 to 60 | 4 | 12 |
| 61 to 64 | 6 | 23 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 19 |
| 69 to 72 | 7 | 6 |
| 73 to 76 | 4 | 52 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 13 |
| 81 to 84 | 2 | 47 |
| 85 to 88 | 14 | 16 |
| 89 to 92 | 4 | 6 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 35 |
| 97 to 100 | 5 | 48 |
| 101 to 104 | 3 | 8 |
| 105 to 108 | 2 | 6 |
| 109 to 112 | 2 | 11 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 12 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 10 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 13 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 9 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 19 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 9 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 8 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 24 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 4 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 20 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 29 |
| 161 to 164 | 4 | 7 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 22 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 4 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 34 |
| 177 to 180 | 2 | 6 |
| 181 to 182 | 1 | 1 |
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.
TEACHER: Andrew! SARA: Come here, Andrew. Let's have some fun. SARA: Just one little burst from these jets is enough to move the astronaut miles in space.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 13 are women's.
117 lines from women, 773 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 29 men in the cast. 5 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 43 of 914.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 63 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (1,446), men 85% (8,457). Women have 13% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
103
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Clint Eastwood (man)
- Written by
- Howard Klausner (man), Ken Kaufman (man)
- Produced by
- Clint Eastwood (man), Andrew Lazar (man)
- Shot by
- Jack N. Green (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Cox (man)
- Music by
- Lennie Niehaus (man)
- Production design by
- Henry Bumstead (man)
- Costumes by
- Deborah Hopper (woman)
- Cast by
- Phyllis Huffman (woman), Sari E. Keigley (gender not listed), Liz Keigley (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
8 women, 16 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 52 on average. Men: 56 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Marcia Gay Harden 40, Barbara Babcock 63
Men
Loren Dean 31, Courtney B. Vance 40, Tommy Lee Jones 53, James Cromwell 60, William Devane 60, Donald Sutherland 65, Clint Eastwood 70, James Garner 72
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $65 million
- Box office
- $129 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 182 scenes and 914 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
