Fails the Bechdel test

The Big White

Name: The Big White
Released: 2005

2005. Directed by Mark Mylod, written by Collin Friesen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 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

In the middle of Alaska, travel agent Paul Barnell is near bankruptcy. Desperate to help himself and his beloved, mentally ill wife Margaret, Paul discovers a dead body and passes it off as his missing brother Raymond, whose life is insured for up to $1,000,000. Everybody is duped, except for workaholic insurance investigator Ted Waters, who sets out to expose Paul, in hopes of being promoted out of Alaska. Meanwhile, two rookie hit men, Gary and Jimbo, discover Paul took 'their' body and kidnap Margaret, demanding the body back. Then, Raymond turns up alive, wanting in on the action...

Released: 03 Dec 2005
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 31 / 100
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Paul 198 lines, man
Ted 182 lines, man
Gary 89 lines, man
Tiffany 84 lines, woman
Margaret 72 lines, woman
Raymond 65 lines, man
Jimbo 62 lines, man
Cam 30 lines, man
Detective Boyle 22 lines, man
Avis 20 lines, woman

Full cast, 20 people

Robin Williams as Paul Barnell
Holly Hunter as Margaret Barnell
Giovanni Ribisi as Ted
Tim Blake Nelson as Gary
W. Earl Brown as Jimbo
Woody Harrelson as Raymond Barnell
Alison Lohman as Tiffany
Marina Stephenson Kerr as Avis
Billy Merasty as Cam
Ralph Alderman as Mr. Branch
Frank Adamson as Detective Boyle
Andrea Shawcross as Hair Stylist
Ryan Miranda as Korean-am teenager
Craig March as Howard
Ty Wood as Paperboy
Frank C. Turner as Dave
Joanne Rodriguez as TV Reporter
Eric Epstein as Minister
Brenda McDonald as Mrs Wherry
Deena Fontaine as Female Cop

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 142

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	0	1
4 to 6	1	2
7 to 9	0	1
10 to 12	0	17
13 to 15	0	13
16 to 18	1	3
19 to 21	18	18
22 to 24	15	33
25 to 27	5	9
28 to 30	0	25
31 to 33	0	2
34 to 36	2	2
37 to 39	2	2
40 to 42	0	1
43 to 45	2	3
46 to 48	0	2
49 to 51	0	17
52 to 54	18	35
55 to 57	0	23
58 to 60	21	64
61 to 63	8	19
64 to 66	3	27
67 to 69	6	17
70 to 72	0	16
73 to 75	7	16
76 to 78	14	14
79 to 81	0	26
82 to 84	7	38
85 to 87	0	30
88 to 90	2	32
91 to 93	10	25
94 to 96	0	22
97 to 99	4	22
100 to 102	0	9
103 to 105	1	16
106 to 108	0	6
109 to 111	5	8
112 to 114	6	4
115 to 117	10	10
118 to 120	4	5
121 to 123	0	8
124 to 126	4	3
127 to 129	6	16
130 to 132	4	9
133 to 135	4	22
136 to 138	1	1
139 to 141	9	6
142 to 142	1	2

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, 22 are women's.

201 lines from women, 702 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 11 men in the cast. 5 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 6 of 924. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 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 (2,112), men 77% (7,154). Women have 22% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Mark Mylod (man)
Written by: Collin Friesen (man)
Produced by: Christopher Eberts (man), Christopher Roberts (man), David Faigenblum (man), Katie Kempe (woman)
Shot by: James Glennon (man)
Edited by: Julie Monroe (woman)
Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh (man)
Production design by: Jon Billington (man)
Costumes by: Darena Snowe (gender not listed)
Cast by: Deborah Aquila (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)