Fails the Bechdel test
Tequila Sunrise
1988. Directed by Robert Towne, written by Robert Towne.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
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.
The film
Mac Mckussic is an unlikely drug dealer who wants to go straight. His old and best friend Nick Frescia is now a cop who is assigned to investigate and bring him to justice. Mac is very attracted to Jo Ann, the owner of a stylish restaurant. Nick gets close to Jo Ann attempting to know more about Mac's drug dealing plans and his connections with the Mexican dealer Carlos, who the police believe is coming to town to meet with him. Nick also falls for Jo Ann's charms and his friendship with Mac is in danger.
- Released
- 02 Dec 1988
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 62 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jo Ann 223 lines, woman
- Frescia 197 lines, man
- Mckussic 135 lines, man
- Maguire 78 lines, man
- Carlos 58 lines, man
- Lindroff 27 lines, man
- Cody 21 lines, man
- Woody 19 lines, man
- Arturo 17 lines, man
- Carlos Jr 14 lines, man
Full cast, 33 people
- Mel Gibson as Dale "Mac" McKussic
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Jo Ann Vallenari
- Kurt Russell as Lieutenant Nick Frescia
- Raúl Juliá as Commandante Xavier Escalante
- J.T. Walsh as DEA Agent Hal McGuire
- Arliss Howard as Gregg Lindroff
- Arye Gross as Andy Leonard
- Gabriel Damon as Cody McKussic
- Daniel Zacapa as Arturo, bartender at Vallenari's (credited as Garret Pearson)
- Tom Nolan as Leland
- Eric Thiele as Vittorio
- Dawn Martel as Sin Sister #1
- Lala Sloatman as Sin Sister #2
- Budd Boetticher as Judge Nizetitch
- Ann Magnuson as Shaleen McKussic
- Kenny Moore as Woody
- Jason Randal as Magician
- Bob Swain as Ralph Spudder
- Jim Bentley as Cop
- Eric Waterhouse as Steve
- Geno Silva as Mexican Cop
- Daniel Ades as Pepe
- Efrain Figueroa as Carlos' Man #1
- Tomás Goros as Carlos' Man #2
- Austin Hawk as Lifeguard #1
- Scott Harms as Lifeguard #2
- Sarah Davis as Girl in Restaurant
- John D. Steele as Man at Party
- David Rees as Man in Party
- Oscar Abadia as Self - KLVE
- Jim Ladd as Self - KMPC
- Tom Schnabel as Self - KCRW
- Sharmagne Leland-St. John as Woman in Phone Booth (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 72
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 2 | 0 | 21 |
| 3 to 4 | 2 | 24 |
| 5 to 6 | 18 | 58 |
| 7 to 8 | 5 | 23 |
| 9 to 10 | 4 | 18 |
| 11 to 12 | 16 | 32 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 15 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 20 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 4 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 to 22 | 16 | 26 |
| 23 to 24 | 13 | 21 |
| 25 to 26 | 4 | 9 |
| 27 to 28 | 14 | 19 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 14 |
| 31 to 32 | 4 | 15 |
| 33 to 34 | 38 | 33 |
| 35 to 36 | 11 | 40 |
| 37 to 38 | 9 | 16 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 10 |
| 41 to 42 | 13 | 3 |
| 43 to 44 | 16 | 14 |
| 45 to 46 | 4 | 2 |
| 47 to 48 | 2 | 8 |
| 49 to 50 | 11 | 20 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 28 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 23 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 2 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 7 |
| 59 to 60 | 3 | 30 |
| 61 to 62 | 11 | 10 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 6 |
| 65 to 66 | 9 | 28 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 2 |
| 69 to 70 | 2 | 33 |
| 71 to 72 | 3 | 8 |
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, 27 are women's.
234 lines from women, 644 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 26 men in the cast. 3 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 48 of 938.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 73 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 25% of the words (3,318), men 75% (9,995). Women have 27% 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
Two women
0
Two men
37
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Towne (man)
- Written by
- Robert Towne (man)
- Produced by
- Thom Mount (man)
- Shot by
- Conrad Hall (man)
- Edited by
- Claire Simpson (woman)
- Music by
- Dave Grusin (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Sylbert (man)
- Costumes by
- Julie Weiss (woman)
- Cast by
- Bonnie Timmermann (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 10 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 12 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 3 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Michelle Pfeiffer 30
Men
Gabriel Damon 12, Arye Gross 28, Mel Gibson 32, Arliss Howard 34, Kurt Russell 37, Daniel Zacapa 37, J.T. Walsh 45, Raúl Juliá 48
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $23 million
- Box office
- $106 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 72 scenes and 938 lines of dialogue. How the test works
