Passes the Bechdel test
The Back-up Plan
2010. Directed by Alan Poul, written by Kate Angelo.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 14 scenes out of 135. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Zoe has always had difficulty letting anyone into her life; she has a habit of pushing people away whenever they get close. Now she wants to have a baby but has no man in her life, so she decides to be artificially inseminated. Shortly after having the procedure, she meets a guy called Stan and feels a spark. When she tells him about her pregnancy she thinks he will bail, but he stays.
- Released
- 23 Apr 2010
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 34 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Zoe 459 lines, woman
- Stan 250 lines, man
- Bobby 64 lines, man
- Mona 48 lines, woman
- Nana 46 lines, woman
- Carol 40 lines, woman
- Dr. Harris 23 lines, man
- Joan 22 lines
- Olivia 22 lines, woman
- Lori 21 lines, woman
Full cast, 70 people
- Jennifer Lopez as Zoe
- Alex O'Loughlin as Stan
- Michaela Watkins as Mona
- Eric Christian Olsen as Clive
- Anthony Anderson as Playground Dad
- Noureen DeWulf as Daphne
- Melissa McCarthy as Carol
- Tom Bosley as Arthur
- Maribeth Monroe as Lori
- Danneel Ackles as Olivia
- Robert Klein as Dr. Scott Harris
- Linda Lavin as Nana
- Carlease Burke as Tabitha
- Amy Block as Sara
- Jennifer Elise Cox as Baby Store Sales Clerk
- Adam Rose as Louis
- Cesar Millan as Cesar Millan
- Peggy Miley as Shirley
- Sadie May Beebe as Dakota
- Logan Lauriston as Mack
- Chalo González as Band Leader
- Art Frankel as "Not Me" Man
- Anslem King as Cab Driver
- Elisabeth Abbott as Pregnant Woman #1
- Lili Mirojnick as Pregnant Woman #2
- Donna Ponterotto as Woman in Gym
- Manos Gavras as Mario
- Riley B. Smith as Mona's Son (2 Years Old)
- Samantha Hall as Mona's Daughter (4 Years Old)
- Jared Gilmore as Mona's Son (6 Years Old)
- Rowan Blanchard as Mona's Daughter (7 Years Old)
- Rizi Timane as Butch Single Mother (uncredited)
- Kara Elizabeth Silva as Single Goth Mom (uncredited)
- Shoniqua Shandai as Single Mother (uncredited)
- Carter Sand as Cole (uncredited)
- Erin Pickett as Farmer's Market Shopper (uncredited)
- Marlowe Peyton as Lucy (uncredited)
- Eder López as Fitness Trainer (uncredited)
- Payton Lucas as Skylar (uncredited)
- Sofia Luca as Featured Extra (uncredited)
- Christine Lozano as Single Mom (uncredited)
- Hannah Loesch as Child in Park (uncredited)
- Cailin Loesch as Child in Park (uncredited)
- Jian Leonardo as (uncredited)
- Adriana James as Hostess (uncredited)
- Brandon Herman as Farmer's Market Vendor (uncredited)
- Brenda Grate as Subway Girl (uncredited)
- Dita de Leon as Single Mother (uncredited)
- Rich Campbell as Jogger (uncredited)
- Taylor Benson as Flower Girl (uncredited)
- Jason Babinsky as Dog Walker (uncredited)
- Don Abernathy as Farmers Market Shopper (uncredited)
- Frank Welker as Nuts (voice)
- Skylar Weber as Infant
- Zachary Weber as Infant
- Isabelle Jones as Infant
- Riley Jones as Infant
- Olivia Jones as Infant
- Felix Chavez as Conga Line Dancer
- Jack Mattis as Conga Line Dancer
- Skip Cunningham as Conga Line Dancer
- Anushka Jones as Conga Line Dancer
- Birl Jonns as Conga Line Dancer
- Bobbie Bates as Conga Line Dancer
- Beverly Polcyn as Conga Line Dancer
- Stan Mazin as Conga Line Dancer
- John Ronald Dennis as Conga Line Dancer
- Wes Whitehead as Cheese Customer
- Barbara Perry as Wedding Singer
- Bunny Gibson as Conga Line Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 135
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 | 14 | 12 |
| 4 to 6 | 21 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 9 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 13 | 8 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 17 | 20 |
| 19 to 21 | 36 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 24 | 20 |
| 25 to 27 | 18 | 17 |
| 28 to 30 | 16 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 8 | 3 |
| 34 to 36 | 10 | 5 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 5 |
| 40 to 42 | 7 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 12 | 8 |
| 46 to 48 | 18 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 21 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 1 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 9 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 13 | 14 |
| 64 to 66 | 7 | 8 |
| 67 to 69 | 24 | 29 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 75 | 4 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 37 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 13 | 1 |
| 82 to 84 | 20 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 7 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 9 | 10 |
| 91 to 93 | 17 | 10 |
| 94 to 96 | 11 | 12 |
| 97 to 99 | 26 | 20 |
| 100 to 102 | 25 | 4 |
| 103 to 105 | 24 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 20 | 15 |
| 112 to 114 | 23 | 4 |
| 115 to 117 | 34 | 6 |
| 118 to 120 | 11 | 3 |
| 121 to 123 | 10 | 13 |
| 124 to 126 | 14 | 14 |
| 127 to 129 | 6 | 0 |
| 130 to 132 | 12 | 9 |
| 133 to 135 | 11 | 8 |
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.
ZOE: Forget it. Forget the whole thing. MONA: Forget the whole thing. It's just a phase...
ZOE: Hi. PREGNANT WOMEN: Hi.
ZOE: Honestly, I didn't know anyone did either. OLIVIA: Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?
OLIVIA: Right. How'd that blueberry pie turn out? ZOE: What? OLIVIA: You bought blueberries from me? Said you were going to make a pie? ZOE: Um, can you excuse me for a second?
MONA: Don't panic. Could be a false positive. Take another test. ZOE: I can't. I'm at some underground foodie party in Brooklyn. Where am I gonna--
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 66 are women's.
655 lines from women, 344 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 22 men in the cast. 10 women and 3 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 9 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 64% of the words (5,999), men 36% (3,337). Women have 66% 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
34
Two men
2
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Alan Poul (man)
- Written by
- Kate Angelo (woman)
- Produced by
- Todd Black (man), Jason Blumenthal (man), Steve Tisch (man)
- Shot by
- Xavier Grobet (man)
- Edited by
- Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (woman)
- Music by
- Stephen Trask (non-binary) (non-binary)
- Production design by
- Alec Hammond (man)
- Costumes by
- Karen Patch (woman)
- Cast by
- Richard Hicks (man), David Rubin (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
8 women, 12 men, 42 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 14 men, 38 not listed
-
Art
6 women, 8 men, 22 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 21 men, 1 non-binary, 8 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 10 men, 15 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 6 men, 15 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men, 13 not listed
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 0 men, 8 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Non-binary
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Noureen DeWulf 26, Danneel Ackles 31, Maribeth Monroe 32, Michaela Watkins 38, Melissa McCarthy 39, Jennifer Lopez 40
Men
Eric Christian Olsen 32, Alex O'Loughlin 33, Anthony Anderson 39, Tom Bosley 82
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $77.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 1,059 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
