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Passes the Bechdel test

Stranger Than Fiction

2006. Directed by Marc Forster, written by Zach Helm.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    22 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 1 scene out of 135.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for Stranger Than Fiction

The film

Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is your average I.R.S. Agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside of his head narrating his life. The narrator it is extraordinarily accurate, and Harold recognizes the voice as an esteemed author he saw on television. But when the narration reveals that he is going to die, Harold must find the author of the story, and ultimately his life, to convince her to change the ending of the story before it is too late.

Released
10 Nov 2006
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
67 / 100
Awards
3 wins & 15 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Harold 423 lines, man
  2. Ana 148 lines, woman
  3. Kay 113 lines, woman
  4. Professor Hilbert 91 lines, man
  5. Narrator 79 lines, woman
  6. Professorhilbert 71 lines, man
  7. Penny 59 lines, woman
  8. Dave 29 lines, man
  9. Cayly 9 lines, man
  10. Foreman 9 lines, man
Full cast, 71 people
  • Will Ferrell as Harold Crick
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana Pascal
  • Dustin Hoffman as Professor Jules Hilbert
  • Emma Thompson as Karen Eiffel
  • Queen Latifah as Penny Escher
  • Tony Hale as Dave
  • Tom Hulce as Dr. Cayly
  • Linda Hunt as Dr. Mittag-Leffler
  • Kristin Chenoweth as Book Channel Host
  • John M. Watson Sr. as TV Author
  • William Dick as IRS Co-Worker #1
  • Guy Massey as IRS Co-Worker #2
  • Martha Espinoza as IRS Co-Worker #3
  • T.J. Jagodowski as IRS Co-Worker #4
  • Peter Grosz as IRS Co-Worker #5
  • Tonray Ho as IRS Co-Worker #6
  • Herb Lichtenstein as IRS Co-Worker #7
  • Stacey Elaine Jackson as IRS Co-Worker #8
  • Ricky Adams as Young Boy
  • Christian Stolte as Young Boy's Father
  • Denise Hughes as Kronecker Bus Driver
  • Peggy Roeder as Polish Woman
  • Danny Rhodes as Bakery Employee #1
  • Linara Washington as Bakery Employee #2
  • Helen Young as Bakery Customer #1
  • David Pompeii as Bakery Customer #2
  • David Wiegers as Bakery Customer #3
  • Jarrett Sleeper as Bakery Customer #4
  • Larry Neumann Jr. as Homeless Man
  • John Mohrlein as Man with Hose
  • Bruce Jarchow as Commuter
  • Bradley Mott as Large Man on Bus
  • Karen Lloyd as Customer with Tan
  • Keith Kupferer as Demolition Foreman
  • Danny McCarthy as Demolition Crew #1
  • Tab Baker as Demolition Crew #2
  • Mark Buettner as Claw Operator
  • Christian Young as ER Doctor #1
  • Ray Kurut as ER Doctor #2
  • Michael Cook as ER Doctor #3
  • Arraon Skippa Hixson as Young Man Patient
  • Bryan Kelly as ER Orderly
  • Whitney Sneed as ER Nurse #1
  • Celeste Pechous as ER Nurse #2
  • Cheryl Lynn Bruce as Head ER Nurse
  • Chet Dubowski as Man in Tweed
  • Ora Jones as Banneker Press Receptionist
  • Jordan Keller as Grocer
  • Jordan Teplitz as Old Man on Phone
  • Ricardo Gutiérrez as Bus Company Manager
  • James Mazza as Irritated Man on Bus
  • Oscar Roxas as Another Man on Bus
  • Nadirah Bost as Accident Witness
  • Sandra Marquez as Accident Witness
  • Lacy Katherine Campbell as Accident Witness
  • Will Clinger as Accident Witness
  • Al Samuels as Accident Witness
  • Frank Caeti as Accident Witness
  • Andrew Rothenberg as Doctor Mercator
  • Rengin Altay as Nurse
  • Lucinda Kemp as Bus Operator #1
  • Donna Watkins as Bus Operator #2
  • Julia Heron as Animal Footage Voice Over (voice)
  • Lora Cain as Animal Footage Voice Over (voice)
  • Bob Papenbrook as Animal Footage Voice Over (voice)
  • Mike McColl as Animal Footage Voice Over (voice)
  • Nathan Adloff as Bakery Patron (uncredited)
  • Sia A. Moody as Nurse #3 (uncredited)
  • Eli Goodman as Augustus Chatman (uncredited)
  • Edy Cullen as Business Women (uncredited)
  • Tim Krueger as Business Man (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 135

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 330
4 to 622
7 to 900
10 to 1214
13 to 15932
16 to 183130
19 to 21441
22 to 24622
25 to 2704
28 to 30714
31 to 331682
34 to 3621
37 to 39034
40 to 421942
43 to 454443
46 to 48025
49 to 5100
52 to 5402
55 to 57039
58 to 60030
61 to 63813
64 to 66212
67 to 6930
70 to 7230
73 to 752821
76 to 782120
79 to 811042
82 to 8488
85 to 8708
88 to 9030
91 to 934330
94 to 96012
97 to 9964
100 to 1021827
103 to 10566
106 to 10801
109 to 11165
112 to 11440
115 to 11721
118 to 12099
121 to 1232628
124 to 12630
127 to 12930
130 to 13230
133 to 13530

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.
KAY: I ... I ... nothing. PENNY: Kay. KAY: It's nothing.
KAY: I don't know .... maybe that's okay. PENNY: Kay. KAY: I'm sorry.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 40 are women's.

421 lines from women, 644 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

22 women and 36 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 102 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 42% of the words (4,517), men 58% (6,248). Women have 40% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Marc Forster (man)
Written by
Zach Helm (man)
Produced by
Lindsay Doran (woman)
Shot by
Roberto Schaefer (man)
Edited by
Matt Chessé (man)
Music by
Brian Reitzell (man), Britt Daniel (gender not listed)
Production design by
Kevin Thompson (man)
Costumes by
Frank L. Fleming (man)
Cast by
Francine Maisler (woman), Kathy Driscoll-Mohler (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    4 women, 12 men, 4 not listed

  • Other crew

    4 women, 10 men, 4 not listed

  • Production

    6 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 1 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    2 women, 4 men

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 3 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 42 on average. Men: 53 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Maggie Gyllenhaal 28, Queen Latifah 36, Kristin Chenoweth 38, Emma Thompson 47, Linda Hunt 61

Men

Tony Hale 36, Will Ferrell 39, Tom Hulce 52, Dustin Hoffman 69, John M. Watson Sr. 69

Exhibit H: the money

It made 1.8 times what it cost.

Budget
$30 million
Box office
$53.7 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 1,106 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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