Passes the Bechdel test
The Anniversary Party
2001. Directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, written by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 13 scenes out of 82. -
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
Celebrity couple Joe and Sally Therrian are going through yet another rough stage in their six-year marriage: while Joe's novels have been climbing higher and higher on the best-seller lists, Sally's film career has been steadily sinking into oblivion. Joe's been given the rights to cast and direct the screenplay of his latest book, but rather than resurrect Sally's career by casting her in the lead role, he's given it to Sally's rival, Skye Davidson. Even worse, he's invited Skye to their anniversary bash. Will the marriage, or anything else for that matter, survive the party?
- Released
- 29 Jun 2001
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sally 257 lines, woman
- Joe 234 lines, man
- Monica 79 lines, woman
- Panes 67 lines, man
- Sophia 60 lines, woman
- Jerry 53 lines, man
- Clair 48 lines, woman
- Mac 42 lines, man
- Judy 39 lines, woman
- Ryan 38 lines, man
Full cast, 30 people
- Alan Cumming as Joe Therrian
- Jennifer Jason Leigh as Sally Nash Therrian
- John Benjamin Hickey as Jerry Adams
- Parker Posey as Judy Adams
- Phoebe Cates as Sophia Gold
- Kevin Kline as Cal Gold
- Owen Kline as Jack Gold
- Greta Kline as Evie Gold
- Denis O'Hare as Ryan Rose
- Mina Badie as Monica Rose
- Jane Adams as Clair Forsyth
- John C. Reilly as Mac Forsyth
- Jennifer Beals as Gina Taylor
- Matt Malloy as Sanford Jewison
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Mary-Lynn
- Michael Panes as Levi Panes
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Skye Davidson
- Blair Tefkin as Astrid
- Karen Kilgariff as Karen
- Molly Bryant as Party Guest
- Michael G. Carroll as Party Guest
- Craig Chester as Party Guest
- Christopher Lawrence as Party Guest
- Jessica Queller as Party Guest
- JR Reed as Party Guest
- Steven Freedman as Yoga Instructor
- Norizzela Monterroso as America
- Clara Demedrano as Rosa
- Sadie Frost as Lucy - Joe's Sister (voice) (uncredited)
- Matt McGrath as Jeffrey (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 82
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 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 to 6 | 20 | 21 |
| 7 to 8 | 22 | 25 |
| 9 to 10 | 34 | 36 |
| 11 to 12 | 76 | 44 |
| 13 to 14 | 19 | 0 |
| 15 to 16 | 25 | 14 |
| 17 to 18 | 29 | 19 |
| 19 to 20 | 20 | 21 |
| 21 to 22 | 6 | 5 |
| 23 to 24 | 26 | 27 |
| 25 to 26 | 25 | 41 |
| 27 to 28 | 7 | 0 |
| 29 to 30 | 20 | 15 |
| 31 to 32 | 14 | 6 |
| 33 to 34 | 1 | 1 |
| 35 to 36 | 10 | 24 |
| 37 to 38 | 48 | 9 |
| 39 to 40 | 3 | 23 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 1 |
| 43 to 44 | 1 | 1 |
| 45 to 46 | 7 | 6 |
| 47 to 48 | 32 | 26 |
| 49 to 50 | 15 | 20 |
| 51 to 52 | 35 | 32 |
| 53 to 54 | 5 | 14 |
| 55 to 56 | 6 | 6 |
| 57 to 58 | 3 | 0 |
| 59 to 60 | 16 | 12 |
| 61 to 62 | 16 | 5 |
| 63 to 64 | 2 | 1 |
| 65 to 66 | 4 | 5 |
| 67 to 68 | 2 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 5 | 5 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 to 76 | 12 | 10 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 0 |
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.
SALLY: Fantastic. Out here. JUDY: The house looks beautiful, are those hydrangeas?
SALLY: Enough about me. SOPHIA: Evie has a little something for you. SOPHIA: You do. EVIE: I don't think so.
SOPHIA: No, I have a little talking to do with America. Privately. I'll find her. SALLY: In the kitchen.
CLAIR: Where can I put these? CLAIR: What a fucking day! We only just got a sitter. I don't know her from fucking Adam. She could be a serial killer. I'm going to have to call e… SALLY: Of course.
CLAIR: It's alright, isn't it? SALLY: Of course it's alright.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 54 are women's.
572 lines from women, 481 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 12 men in the cast. 10 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,082.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 22 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 54% of the words (5,021), men 46% (4,239).
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
38
Two men
32
Exhibit F: behind the camera
7 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 60% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Alan Cumming (man), Jennifer Jason Leigh (woman)
- Written by
- Jennifer Jason Leigh (woman), Alan Cumming (man)
- Produced by
- Jennifer Jason Leigh (woman), JoAnne Sellar (woman), Alan Cumming (man)
- Shot by
- John Bailey (man)
- Edited by
- Carol Littleton (woman), Suzanne Spangler (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Penn (man)
- Production design by
- Emma Fairley (woman)
- Costumes by
- Christopher Lawrence (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men
-
Art
2 women, 0 men
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
2 women, 0 men
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Greta Kline 7, Mina Badie 30, Parker Posey 32, Phoebe Cates 37, Jennifer Jason Leigh 39
Men
Owen Kline 9, Alan Cumming 36, John Benjamin Hickey 37, Denis O'Hare 39, Kevin Kline 53
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $4.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 82 scenes and 1,082 lines of dialogue. How the test works
