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Fails the Bechdel test

State of Grace

1990. Directed by Phil Joanou, written by Dennis McIntyre.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    4 women characters. 2 of them speak.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

Poster for State of Grace

The film

Terry Noonan returns home to New York's Hells Kitchen after a ten year absence. He soon hooks up with childhood pal Jackie who is involved in the Irish mob run by his brother Frankie. Terry also rekindles an old flame with Jackie's sister Kathleen. Soon, however, Terry is torn between his loyalty to his friends and his loyalties to others.

Released
14 Sep 1990
Genres
Action, Crime, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
7.1 / 10
Metascore
60 / 100
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Terry 220 lines, man
  2. Jackie 158 lines, man
  3. Frankie 94 lines, man
  4. Kathleen 76 lines, woman
  5. Charlie 41 lines, man
  6. Nicholson 25 lines, man
  7. Stevie 24 lines, man
  8. Finn 9 lines, man
  9. Mc Donnell 9 lines
  10. Borelli 7 lines, man
Full cast, 40 people
  • Sean Penn as Terry
  • Ed Harris as Frankie
  • Gary Oldman as Jackie
  • Robin Wright as Kathleen
  • John Turturro as Nick
  • Burgess Meredith as Finn
  • R. D. Call as Nicholson
  • Joe Viterelli as Borelli
  • John C. Reilly as Stevie
  • Deirdre O'Connell as Irene
  • Marco St. John as Cavello
  • Thomas G. Waites as Frankie's Man #1
  • Michael Cambridge as Frankie's Man #2
  • Michael Cumpsty as Frankie's Man #3
  • Mick Cunningham as Frankie's Man #4
  • Daniel O'Shea as Frankie's Man #5
  • Thomas F. Duffy as Frankie's Man #6
  • Jamie Tirelli as Alvarez
  • Sandra Beall as Stevie's Date
  • Vincent Guastaferro as Borelli's Man #1
  • Johnny Williams as Borelli's Man #2
  • John Roselius as Borelli's Man #3
  • Louis Eppolito as Borelli's Man #4
  • Mo Gaffney as Maureen
  • John MacKay as Raferty
  • John Ottavino as Raferty's Son
  • Tim Gallin as Bar Customer #1
  • Timothy Klein as Bar Customer #2
  • Jack Wallace as Matty's Bartender
  • Frank Girardeau as Bartender #1
  • Michael P. Moran as Bartender #2
  • Frank Coletta as Bartender #3
  • Paul-Felix Montez as Pool Hall Manager
  • Freddi Chandler as Waitress
  • Tommy Sullivan as Police Detective
  • Ben Fine as Hotel Doorman
  • Saasha Costello as Frankie's Child #1
  • Catherine Stewart as Frankie's Child #2
  • James Russo as DeMarco (uncredited)
  • Vincent Pastore as Borelli’s Man (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 148

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 401
5 to 808
9 to 1206
13 to 16024
17 to 2006
21 to 24945
25 to 28058
29 to 321318
33 to 36016
37 to 40042
41 to 4436
45 to 4803
49 to 5238
53 to 56823
57 to 60028
61 to 64114
65 to 68024
69 to 72531
73 to 76128
77 to 80710
81 to 84016
85 to 88841
89 to 9200
93 to 9604
97 to 10000
101 to 104911
105 to 108013
109 to 112219
113 to 11606
117 to 120017
121 to 124031
125 to 128042
129 to 13298
133 to 136012
137 to 14001
141 to 14403
145 to 148313

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 11 are women's.

81 lines from women, 636 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

4 women and 29 men in the cast. 2 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 77 of 734. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 96 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 8% of the words (979), men 92% (10,889). Women have 11% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit D: 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 E: behind the camera

3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Phil Joanou (man)
Written by
Dennis McIntyre (gender not listed)
Produced by
Ned Dowd (man), Randy Ostrow (man), Ron Rotholz (man)
Shot by
Jordan Cronenweth (man)
Edited by
Claire Simpson (woman)
Music by
Ennio Morricone (man)
Production design by
Doug Kraner (man), Patrizia von Brandenstein (woman)
Cast by
Bonnie Timmermann (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    2 women, 9 men, 5 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 7 men, 5 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 10 men, 1 not listed

  • Production

    4 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 6 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    2 women, 2 men

  • Editing

    1 women, 0 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 31 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Robin Wright 24, Deirdre O'Connell 38

Men

John C. Reilly 25, Sean Penn 30, Gary Oldman 32, John Turturro 33, Ed Harris 39, R. D. Call 40, Joe Viterelli 53, Burgess Meredith 82

Exhibit G: the money

It made 27% of what it cost.

Budget
$7 million
Box office
$1.9 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 148 scenes and 734 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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