Passes the Bechdel test
The 'Burbs
1989. Directed by Joe Dante, written by Dana Olsen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 83. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
He's a man of peace in a savage land: Suburbia. When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evil doings and commence an investigation.But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers to drink beer, read his newspaper, and watch a ballgame on the tube, expected to spend his vacation.
- Released
- 17 Feb 1989
- Genres
- Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 45 / 100
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Art 161 lines, man
- Ray 143 lines, man
- Rums Field 101 lines, man
- Carol 71 lines, woman
- Ricky 68 lines, man
- Bonnie 23 lines, woman
- Reuben 14 lines, man
- Dave 13 lines, man
- Uy 11 lines
- Dr. Klopek 10 lines, man
Full cast, 36 people
- Tom Hanks as Ray Peterson
- Bruce Dern as Lt. Mark Rumsfield
- Carrie Fisher as Carol Peterson
- Rick Ducommun as Art Weingartner
- Wendy Schaal as Bonnie Rumsfield
- Corey Feldman as Ricky Butler
- Courtney Gains as Hans Klopek
- Henry Gibson as Dr. Werner Klopek
- Gale Gordon as Walter Seznick
- Dick Miller as Vic, Garbageman #1
- Robert Picardo as Joe, Garbageman #2
- Theodore Gottlieb as Uncle Reuben Klopek
- Franklyn Ajaye as Detective #1
- Cory Danziger as Dave Peterson
- Rance Howard as Detective #2
- Heather Haase as Ricky's Girlfriend
- Nicky Katt as Steve Kuntz
- Bill Stevenson as Ricky's Friend
- Gary Hays as Ricky's Friend
- Kevin Gage as Cop
- Dana Olsen as Cop
- Brenda Benner as Walter's Daughter
- Patrika Darbo as Suzanne Weingartner
- Sonny Carl Davis as Voiceover Actor
- Moosie Drier as Voiceover Actor
- Leigh French as Voiceover Actor
- Archie Hahn as Voiceover Actor
- Billy Jayne as Voiceover Actor
- Phyllis Katz as Voiceover Actor
- Jeffrey Kramer as Voiceover Actor
- Lynne Marie Stewart as Voiceover Actor
- Arnold F. Turner as Voiceover Actor
- Gigi Vorgan as Voiceover Actor
- Carey Scott as Ricky’s friend (uncredited)
- Tony Westbrook as Kid on Bike (Uncredited)
- Kevin McCarthy as Ray’s Boss (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 83
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 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 to 6 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 to 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 9 to 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 4 | 28 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 53 |
| 15 to 16 | 3 | 19 |
| 17 to 18 | 5 | 2 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 33 |
| 21 to 22 | 3 | 12 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 11 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 9 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 3 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 3 |
| 33 to 34 | 2 | 6 |
| 35 to 36 | 5 | 11 |
| 37 to 38 | 3 | 37 |
| 39 to 40 | 6 | 11 |
| 41 to 42 | 3 | 8 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 10 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 11 | 31 |
| 49 to 50 | 7 | 16 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 15 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 to 56 | 5 | 23 |
| 57 to 58 | 3 | 8 |
| 59 to 60 | 9 | 27 |
| 61 to 62 | 2 | 27 |
| 63 to 64 | 2 | 27 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 5 |
| 67 to 68 | 1 | 12 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 5 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 11 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 8 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 6 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 8 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 19 |
| 81 to 82 | 4 | 21 |
| 83 to 83 | 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.
CAROL: For God's sake, before someone breaks a leg or falls off a roof, let's go ring the doorbell, invite ourselves in for a neighborly chat, and … BONNIE: Okay!
CAROL: Hi! Welcome to Hayfield Place! We're your new neighbors! BONNIE: We brought dessert. Is your mother home?
CAROL: Why don't we make some coffee, Bonnie? BONNIE: Okay. Does everyone want cake?
CAROL: Let's have some cake. BONNIE: Gee, this is a nice, big old house. I don't believe I was ever inside it when the Knapps lived here.
BONNIE: Is it a burglar? CAROL: No. It's Art.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 15 are women's.
95 lines from women, 547 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 26 men in the cast. 2 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 701.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 72 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (1,118), men 85% (6,164).
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
7
Two men
66
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joe Dante (man)
- Written by
- Dana Olsen (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Brezner (man), Michael Finnell (man)
- Shot by
- Robert M. Stevens (man)
- Edited by
- Marshall Harvey (man)
- Music by
- Jerry Goldsmith (man)
- Production design by
- James H. Spencer (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosanna Norton (woman)
- Cast by
- Judy Taylor (woman), Mike Fenton (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 18 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 13 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men
-
Directing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Carrie Fisher 32, Wendy Schaal 34
Men
Corey Feldman 17, Courtney Gains 23, Tom Hanks 32, Rick Ducommun 36, Bruce Dern 52, Henry Gibson 53, Dick Miller 60, Gale Gordon 82
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $49.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 83 scenes and 701 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
