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Passes the Bechdel test

The Cutting Edge

1992. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, written by Tony Gilroy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 2 scenes out of 121.
  3. 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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

Poster for The Cutting Edge

The film

Doug Dorsey is a hockey player for the U.S. team in the 1988 Winter Olympics. After a vicious game against West Germany, he was forced to retire after an injury. Kate Moseley was doing her program and fell during the same Olympic games. Both have fought hard to get to the Winter Olympics, and suddenly their dreams have been shattered. A temperamental but talented figure skater, Kate has had many partners, until her coach recruits Doug as a potential partner. Through the difficult training of 15 hours of skating a day, they finally prepare for the nationals and the Olympics. A romance blooms, and their final show could make or break them as they attempt to achieve their dreams of the Olympic Gold Medal.

Released
27 Mar 1992
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated
PG
IMDb
6.9 / 10
Metascore
53 / 100
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Doug 259 lines, man
  2. Kate 232 lines, woman
  3. Anton 101 lines, man
  4. Jack 44 lines, man
  5. Hale 32 lines, man
  6. Tuttle 17 lines, man
  7. Dick 11 lines
  8. Lorie 11 lines, woman
  9. Doctor 8 lines, man
  10. Walt 7 lines
Full cast, 19 people
  • D. B. Sweeney as Doug Dorsey
  • Moira Kelly as Kate Moseley
  • Roy Dotrice as Anton Pamchenko
  • Terry O'Quinn as Jack Moseley
  • Dwier Brown as Hale Forrest
  • Chris Benson as Walter Dorsey
  • Kevin Peeks as Brian Newman
  • Barry Flatman as Rick Tuttle
  • Rachelle Ottley as Lorie Peckarovski
  • Steve Sears as Spindler
  • Nahanni Johnstone as Gita
  • Michael Hogan as Doctor
  • R.D. Reid as Calgary Cop
  • Dick Grant as Olympic Commentator
  • Melanie Miller as Olympic Commentator
  • Robin Cousins as Robin Cousins
  • Chick Roberts as Drunk
  • Arthur Rowsell as Assistant Costumer
  • JoJo Starbuck as Interviewer

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 121

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 322
4 to 6116
7 to 945
10 to 1210
13 to 15014
16 to 1807
19 to 21311
22 to 24014
25 to 271330
28 to 3029
31 to 33118
34 to 36919
37 to 3900
40 to 4201
43 to 45621
46 to 481927
49 to 5101
52 to 541123
55 to 572245
58 to 60113
61 to 632530
64 to 6644
67 to 6901
70 to 72919
73 to 75811
76 to 781834
79 to 8128
82 to 8400
85 to 87106
88 to 9022
91 to 9324
94 to 962116
97 to 9943
100 to 1021325
103 to 10576
106 to 10855
109 to 111715
112 to 11435
115 to 11744
118 to 12006
121 to 1211119

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.
KATE: I ••• I must have the wrong room. LORIE: Yes. I'd say so.
LORIE: Trouble in paradise? KATE: You didn't have to do that.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 35 are women's.

260 lines from women, 489 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 874. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 34 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 32% of the words (3,361), men 68% (7,279). 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Paul Michael Glaser (man)
Written by
Tony Gilroy (man)
Produced by
Robert W. Cort (man), Ted Field (man), Karen Murphy (woman)
Shot by
Elliot Davis (man)
Edited by
Michael E. Polakow (man)
Music by
Patrick Williams (man)
Production design by
David Gropman (man)
Costumes by
William Ivey Long (man)
Cast by
Marci Liroff (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    4 women, 4 men

  • Art

    0 women, 2 men

  • Other crew

    1 women, 1 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    0 women, 1 men

  • Directing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 24 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Moira Kelly 24

Men

D. B. Sweeney 30, Dwier Brown 33, Terry O'Quinn 39, Chris Benson 40, Roy Dotrice 68

Exhibit H: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
Not listed
Box office
$25.1 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 121 scenes and 874 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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