Passes the Bechdel test
The Cider House Rules
2000. Directed by Lasse Hallström, written by John Irving.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 190. -
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
Homer is an orphan in remote St. Cloud, Maine. Never adopted, he becomes the favorite of orphanage Director Dr. Larch, who imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. When Wally and pregnant Candy visit the orphanage, Dr. Larch provides a medically safe, albeit illegal, abortion, Homer leaves with them to work on Wally's family apple farm. Wally goes off to war, leaving Homer and Candy alone together. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
- Released
- 07 Jan 2000
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 75 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 8 wins & 30 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Homer 258 lines, man
- Larch 149 lines, man
- Candy 119 lines, woman
- Mr. Rose 80 lines, man
- Wally 61 lines, man
- Rose Rose 43 lines, woman
- Angela 38 lines, woman
- Edna 38 lines, woman
- Muddy 32 lines, man
- Buster 26 lines, man
Full cast, 37 people
- Tobey Maguire as Homer Wells
- Charlize Theron as Candy Kendall
- Michael Caine as Dr. Wilbur Larch
- Delroy Lindo as Arthur Rose
- Paul Rudd as Lt. Wally Worthington
- Jane Alexander as Nurse Edna
- Kathy Baker as Nurse Angela
- Erykah Badu as Rose Rose
- Kieran Culkin as Buster
- Kate Nelligan as Olive Worthington
- Heavy D as Peaches
- J.K. Simmons as Ray Kendall
- Erik Per Sullivan as Fuzzy
- Paz de la Huerta as Mary Agnes
- K. Todd Freeman as Muddy
- Evan Parke as Jack
- Jimmy Flynn as Vernon
- Lonnie Farmer as Hero
- Spencer Diamond as Curly
- Skye McCole Bartusiak as Hazel
- Sean Andrew as Copperfield
- John Albano as Steerforth
- Claire Daly as Clara
- Colin Irving as Major Winslow
- Annie Corley as Carla
- Patrick Donnelly as Adopting Father
- Edie Schechter as Adopting Mother
- Kasey Berry as 12yr. Old Girl
- Mary Bogue as Big Dot
- Victoria Stankiewicz as Debra
- Christine Stevens as Florence
- Earle C. Batchelder as Dr. Holtz
- Norma Fine as Mrs. Goodhall
- John Irving as Stationmaster
- Eric Bruno Borgman as Flirting Soldier on Train (uncredited)
- Kevin Chapman as Adopting Dad (uncredited)
- John H. Tobin as Man on Train (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 190
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 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 to 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 to 28 | 11 | 30 |
| 29 to 32 | 5 | 20 |
| 33 to 36 | 8 | 10 |
| 37 to 40 | 10 | 16 |
| 41 to 44 | 2 | 11 |
| 45 to 48 | 10 | 38 |
| 49 to 52 | 6 | 36 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 27 |
| 57 to 60 | 11 | 37 |
| 61 to 64 | 7 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 5 | 3 |
| 69 to 72 | 11 | 23 |
| 73 to 76 | 3 | 18 |
| 77 to 80 | 14 | 45 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 3 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 16 | 21 |
| 93 to 96 | 15 | 26 |
| 97 to 100 | 11 | 18 |
| 101 to 104 | 16 | 23 |
| 105 to 108 | 5 | 22 |
| 109 to 112 | 13 | 20 |
| 113 to 116 | 5 | 7 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 12 |
| 121 to 124 | 5 | 11 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 4 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 11 |
| 141 to 144 | 10 | 19 |
| 145 to 148 | 23 | 18 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 5 |
| 153 to 156 | 18 | 16 |
| 157 to 160 | 3 | 17 |
| 161 to 164 | 9 | 27 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 18 |
| 169 to 172 | 5 | 6 |
| 173 to 176 | 2 | 2 |
| 177 to 180 | 4 | 9 |
| 181 to 184 | 2 | 0 |
| 185 to 188 | 6 | 6 |
| 189 to 190 | 0 | 4 |
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.
CARLA: I don't wanna see it! EDNA: You don't have to see it, dear. Don't worry. CARLA: I don't even wanna know what sex it is--don't tell me!
EDNA: Your baby's going to be okay, too. CARLA: I don't wanna know!
MARY AGNES: If people want to adopt one of us, they should have to take the oldest first. EDNA: Please, Mary Agnes! This is Hazel's special day--don't make her feel sad. MARY AGNES: Hazel's practically the youngest of us. She should be the last to leave!
MARY AGNES: They take the babies so they won't ever have to tell them that they were orphans! HAZEL: I'm not a baby! MARY AGNES: If you cry, Hazel, they'll just send you back. EDNA: Mary Agnes, that's not true!
CANDY: I would like to have a baby, one day. I really would. ANGELA: Why, of course--you can have as many children as you want. I'm sure you'll have very beautiful children.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.
297 lines from women, 701 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 16 men in the cast. 9 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 12 of 1,019.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 29 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (2,895), men 73% (7,959). Women have 30% 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
18
Two men
81
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Lasse Hallström (man)
- Written by
- John Irving (man)
- From the novel by
- John Irving (man)
- Produced by
- Richard N. Gladstein (man), Lila Yacoub (woman), Alan C. Blomquist (man), Leslie Holleran (woman)
- Shot by
- Oliver Stapleton (man)
- Edited by
- Lisa Zeno Churgin (woman)
- Music by
- Rachel Portman (woman)
- Production design by
- David Gropman (man)
- Costumes by
- Renee Ehrlich Kalfus (woman)
- Cast by
- Kerry Barden (man), Billy Hopkins (man), Suzanne Smith Crowley (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 19 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Charlize Theron 24, Erykah Badu 28, Kathy Baker 49, Kate Nelligan 49, Jane Alexander 60
Men
Kieran Culkin 17, Tobey Maguire 24, Paul Rudd 30, Delroy Lindo 47, Michael Caine 66
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $24 million
- Box office
- $88.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 190 scenes and 1,019 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
