Passes the Bechdel test
The Comedian
2016. Directed by Taylor Hackford, written by Art Linson and Jeffrey Ross and Richard LaGravenese.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
20 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 73. -
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
Jackie (Robert DeNiro) is a comic icon, attempting to reinvent himself despite his audience only wanting to know him as a television character he played earlier in his career. After accosting an audience member, Jackie is sentenced to community service where he meets Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann).
- Released
- 03 Feb 2017
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jackie 374 lines, man
- Harmony 164 lines, woman
- Mac 76 lines, man
- Miller 58 lines, woman
- James 41 lines
- Flo 28 lines
- D’ Angelo 23 lines, man
- Karola 18 lines, woman
- Carol 13 lines, woman
- May 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 57 people
- Robert De Niro as Jackie Burke
- Leslie Mann as Harmony Schiltz
- Danny DeVito as Jimmy Berkowitz
- Edie Falco as Miller
- Harvey Keitel as Mac Schiltz
- Charles Grodin as Dick D'Angelo
- Patti LuPone as Florence Berkowitz
- Cloris Leachman as May Conner
- Veronica Ferres as Karola
- Lois Smith as Miriam
- Billy Crystal as Billy Crystal
- Lucy DeVito as Brittany Berkowitz
- Jim Norton as Jim Norton
- Jimmie Walker as Jimmie Walker
- Brett Butler as Brett Butler
- Jessica Kirson as Jessica Kirson
- Freddie Roman as Freddie Roman
- Stewie Stone as Stewie Stone
- Gilbert Gottfried as Gilbert Gottfried
- Greer Barnes as Greer Barnes
- Hannibal Buress as Hannibal Buress
- Bill Boggs as Bill Boggs
- Sheng Wang as Sheng Wang
- Ryan Hamilton as Ryan Hamilton
- Aida Rodríguez as Aida Rodriguez
- Dov Davidoff as Dov Davidoff
- Nick Di Paolo as Nick Di Paolo
- Rebecca Kling as Heckler's Girlfriend
- Jack Ricardo Miller as Homeless Man
- Estee Adoram as Comedy Cellar Manager (uncredited)
- Brooke Alexandra as Wedding Party (uncredited)
- Happy Anderson as Heckler / Severin (uncredited)
- Mark Axelowitz as Bartender at Friars Club (uncredited)
- Aaron Ayhan as Lawyer (uncredited)
- Marc Bicking as Spark's Maitre d' (uncredited)
- Michael Birnberg as Steakhouse Customer (uncredited)
- Susan Blackwell as Arlene (uncredited)
- Marylouise Burke as Adele (uncredited)
- José Báez as Homeless (uncredited)
- Craig Castaldo as Soup kitchen - patron 1 (uncredited)
- Lyman Chen as Chinese Waiter (uncredited)
- Teddy Coluca as Fan (uncredited)
- Stephanie Corbett as Bayou Babe (uncredited)
- Savvy Crawford as The kid (uncredited)
- Ray Crisara as Gary (uncredited)
- Barbara Danicka as Stenographer (uncredited)
- Barbara Ann Davison as Fan at Convention (uncredited)
- Karin de la Penha as Woman on Train (uncredited)
- Kevin Dohrenwend as Prison Inmate (uncredited)
- Michael-Scott Druckenmiller as Floridian Parent (uncredited)
- Sarah Fearon as Friars Club Member (uncredited)
- Michael Fischetti as Older man (uncredited)
- Abigail Friend as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Bill Walters as Homeless in Soup Line (uncredited)
- Richard Belzer as Himself
- Ester Tania as Rosie
- Bobby Rydell as Bobby Rydell
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 73
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 | 1 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 to 10 | 9 | 71 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 to 16 | 7 | 7 |
| 17 to 18 | 14 | 16 |
| 19 to 20 | 9 | 32 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 3 |
| 23 to 24 | 15 | 10 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 28 | 14 | 15 |
| 29 to 30 | 7 | 6 |
| 31 to 32 | 19 | 14 |
| 33 to 34 | 3 | 4 |
| 35 to 36 | 18 | 13 |
| 37 to 38 | 23 | 21 |
| 39 to 40 | 19 | 52 |
| 41 to 42 | 23 | 17 |
| 43 to 44 | 1 | 1 |
| 45 to 46 | 11 | 40 |
| 47 to 48 | 13 | 27 |
| 49 to 50 | 5 | 20 |
| 51 to 52 | 8 | 12 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 6 |
| 55 to 56 | 13 | 45 |
| 57 to 58 | 11 | 21 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 62 | 25 | 22 |
| 63 to 64 | 3 | 12 |
| 65 to 66 | 9 | 25 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 1 | 5 |
| 71 to 72 | 4 | 7 |
| 73 to 73 | 2 | 5 |
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.
MILLER: I’11 drive you home. BRETT BUTLER: If you ever see me at one these again shoot me in the head.
HARMONY: Oh I’ve been attached plenty of times. Just never stuck. BRITTANY: Can I have your attention everybody? BRITTANY: You can’t imagine how happy I am that you all came to share this incredible day with us. HARMONY: She seems like a nice kid.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 35 are women's.
289 lines from women, 539 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
20 women and 28 men in the cast. 10 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 974.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 74 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 30% of the words (2,959), men 70% (6,917). Women have 35% 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
10
Two men
32
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Taylor Hackford (man)
- Written by
- Jeff Ross (man), Richard LaGravenese (man), Lewis Friedman (man), Art Linson (man)
- Story by
- Art Linson (man)
- Produced by
- John Linson (man), Mark Canton (man), Courtney Solomon (man), Taylor Hackford (man), Art Linson (man)
- Shot by
- Oliver Stapleton (man)
- Edited by
- Mark Warner (man)
- Music by
- Terence Blanchard (man)
- Production design by
- Kristi Zea (woman)
- Costumes by
- Aude Bronson-Howard (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 9 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 5 men
-
Camera
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 65 on average. Men: 76 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Leslie Mann 44, Veronica Ferres 51, Edie Falco 53, Patti LuPone 67, Lois Smith 86, Cloris Leachman 90
Men
Danny DeVito 72, Robert De Niro 73, Harvey Keitel 77, Charles Grodin 81
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 73 scenes and 974 lines of dialogue. How the test works
