Passes the Bechdel test
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
1990. Directed by Renny Harlin, written by Daniel Waters and James Cappe and David Arnott.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 106. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Ford "Mr. Rock n' Roll Detective" Fairlane is experiencing problems, and it's not with the opposite sex. One of them is that all the rock stars pay him with drumsticks, koala bears, food processors, and bicycle shorts. Another one of them is that all his employers that want him to find a missing girl named Zuzu Petals. Why didn't he become a fisherman's detective instead? A must-see for Andrew Dice Clay fans.
- Released
- 11 Jul 1990
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 24 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ford 314 lines, man
- Zuzu 68 lines, woman
- Jazz 59 lines, woman
- Grendel 46 lines, man
- Colleen 33 lines, woman
- Smiley 22 lines, man
- The Kid 22 lines, man
- Johnny 18 lines, man
- Lt. Amos 17 lines, man
- Don 13 lines, man
Full cast, 55 people
- Andrew Dice Clay as Ford Fairlane
- Wayne Newton as Julian Grendel
- Priscilla Presley as Colleen Sutton
- Morris Day as Don Cleveland
- Lauren Holly as Jazz
- Ed O'Neill as Lt. Amos
- Maddie Corman as Zuzu Petals
- Gilbert Gottfried as Johnny Crunch
- Robert Englund as Smiley
- Vince Neil as Bobby Black
- Sheila E. as Club Singer
- David Patrick Kelly as Sam the Sleaze Bag
- Kari Wührer as Melodi
- Brandon Call as The Kid
- Pamela Adlon as Pussycat
- Kurt Loder as MTV VJ
- Delia Sheppard as Pussycat
- Cody Jarrett as Kyle Troy
- David Arnott as Club Guy
- William Shockley as Punk Gunslinger
- Kimber Sissons as Pussycat
- Willie Garson as Frat Boy
- David Bowe as College Boy
- Jordan Lund as Amiable Tourist
- Rita Maye Bland as Receptionist
- Tone Loc as Slam the Rapper
- Allan Wasserman as Mortician
- Katariina Souri as Girl at Funeral (uncredited)
- Jay Underwood as Club Guy Bob (uncredited)
- Lala Sloatman as Sorority Girl
- Steve White as Detective
- Mark Goldstein as Club Guy
- Mark Zuelke as Punk Gunslinger
- Monique Mannen as Pussycat
- Hili Park as Twin Club Girl
- Gry Park as Twin Club Girl
- Cindy Lehre as Lydia
- Kurt James Stefka as Bouncer
- Michael Alan Kahn as College Boy
- Ladd Vance as Frat Boy
- Robert Mangiardi as Sleazy Guy
- Lori Pfeiffer as Sorority Girl
- Kristin Pearcey as Sorority Girl
- Diana Barrows as Sorority Girl
- Lee Lawrence as Bartender
- Connie Johnson as Tour Guide
- Charlie Hawke as Mortician
- Kathleen Monica as Receptionist
- Randy Crenshaw as Bel Air Party Singer
- Hot Tub Johnny West as Damion Flemm
- Sandra Sheeler as Girl on Ladder
- Edmund E. Villa as Piano Mover
- Christopher D. Childers as Club Dancer #1 (uncredited)
- Lisa Matthews as Sorority Girl (uncredited)
- Oliver Theess as Surfer Outside of Bar (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 106
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 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 49 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 14 | 23 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 25 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 33 |
| 28 to 30 | 14 | 16 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 27 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 11 | 14 |
| 49 to 51 | 7 | 23 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 20 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 16 |
| 58 to 60 | 11 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 17 | 13 |
| 64 to 66 | 3 | 10 |
| 67 to 69 | 12 | 11 |
| 70 to 72 | 6 | 18 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 5 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 14 | 12 |
| 82 to 84 | 10 | 45 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 17 | 25 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 3 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 7 |
| 100 to 102 | 10 | 35 |
| 103 to 105 | 2 | 19 |
| 106 to 106 | 0 | 2 |
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.
ZUZU: You didn't ask. Have you ever thought about mousse? ZUZU: K-O-D-S is going to make me rich... Uh... JAZZ: She's just a bundle of energy, a real treasure...
SORORITY SISTER ONE: Water balloon fight! MELODI: Sisters, don't get your robes wet. JAZZ: Why do we have to have an office on the second floor? JAZZ: I came to warn you...
ZUZU: There's that question... JAZZ: How'd it go?
JAZZ: I can't believe I lost an eye for a bunch of phony C.D.s ZUZU: Oh God, the door's locked. We're
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
192 lines from women, 515 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 28 men in the cast. 6 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 746.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 23% of the words (1,850), men 77% (6,304). Women have 27% 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
11
Two men
51
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Renny Harlin (man)
- Written by
- James Cappe (gender not listed), Daniel Waters (man), David Arnott (man)
- Story by
- David Arnott (man), James Cappe (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Steve Perry (man), Joel Silver (man)
- Shot by
- Oliver Wood (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Tronick (man)
- Music by
- Boris Blank (man)
- Production design by
- John Vallone (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Vance (woman)
- Cast by
- Jackie Burch (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
14 women, 43 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 19 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 14 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 12 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 6 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Maddie Corman 19, Lauren Holly 26, Priscilla Presley 45
Men
Vince Neil 29, Andrew Dice Clay 32, Morris Day 32, Gilbert Gottfried 35, Robert Englund 43, Ed O'Neill 44, Wayne Newton 48
Exhibit H: the money
It made 42% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $49 million
- Box office
- $20.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 746 lines of dialogue. How the test works
