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Passes the Bechdel test

The Devil's Advocate

1997. Directed by Taylor Hackford, written by Andrew Neiderman and Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    19 women characters. 11 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 3 scenes out of 232.
  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.

Poster for The Devil's Advocate

The film

Kevin Lomax, a ruthless young Florida attorney who never lost a case, is recruited by the most powerful law firm in the world. In spite of his mother's disagreement (she compares New York City to Babylon), he accepts the offer and the money that comes along. But soon, his wife starts feeling homesick and seeing devilish apparitions. However, Kevin is sinking in his new cases and pays less and less attention to his wife. His boss and mentor, John Milton, seems to always know how to overcome every problem and that just freaks out Kevin.

Released
17 Oct 1997
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Rated
R
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
60 / 100
Awards
2 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Kevin 374 lines, man
  2. Milton 168 lines, man
  3. Mary Ann 100 lines, woman
  4. Mrs. Lomax 57 lines, woman
  5. Barzoon 41 lines, man
  6. Barbara 36 lines, woman
  7. Christabella 33 lines, woman
  8. Cullen 31 lines, man
  9. Heath 29 lines
  10. Pam 19 lines, woman
Full cast, 87 people
  • Keanu Reeves as Kevin Lomax
  • Al Pacino as John Milton
  • Charlize Theron as Mary Ann Lomax
  • Jeffrey Jones as Eddie Barzoon
  • Judith Ivey as Mrs. Lomax
  • Connie Nielsen as Christabella
  • Craig T. Nelson as Alexander Cullen
  • Tamara Tunie as Jackie Heath
  • Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Leamon Heath
  • Debra Monk as Pam Garrety
  • Vyto Ruginis as Weaver
  • Laura Harrington as Melissa Black
  • Pamela Gray as Diana Barzoon
  • George Wyner as Meisel
  • Chris Bauer as Gettys
  • Connie Embesi as Mrs. Gettys
  • Jonathan Cavallary as Gettys' Son
  • Heather Matarazzo as Barbara
  • Murphy Guyer as Barbara's Father
  • Leo Burmester as Florida Prosecutor
  • Bill Moor as Florida Judge
  • Neal Jones as Florida Reporter
  • Eddie Aldridge as Florida Bailiff
  • Mark Deakins as Florida Lawyer #1
  • Rony Clanton as Junkie
  • George O. Gore II as Boy
  • Alan Manson as Judge Sklar
  • Brian Poteat as Pie Face
  • Daniel Oreskes as Metro D.A.
  • Kim Chan as Chinese Man
  • Caprice Benedetti as Menage A Trois Woman
  • Don King as Don King
  • Ray Garvey as Fight Fan
  • Rocco Musacchia as Fight Fan
  • Susan Kellermann as Joyce Rensaleer
  • James Saito as Takaori Osumi
  • Harsh Nayyar as Parvathi Resh
  • Mohammad Ghaffari as Bashir Toabal
  • Nicki Cochrane as Multi-Lingual Party Guest
  • Fenja Klaus as Female #1
  • Gino Lucci as Limo Driver
  • Novella Nelson as Botanica Woman
  • Vincent Laresca as Big Guy #1
  • Benny Nieves as Big Guy #2
  • Franci Leary as Babs Coleman
  • Gloria Lynne Henry as Tiffany
  • Jorge Navarro as Spanish Restaurant Manager
  • Tomatito as Flamenco Guitarist
  • Antonio Vargas Cortés as Flamenco Singer
  • Elena Camunez Andújar as Flamenco Dancer
  • Monica Keena as Alessandra
  • Linda Atkinson as Therapist
  • William Hill as Feeney the Doorman
  • Juan Carlos Hernández as Paparazzi
  • Wei Mei Wong as Gizelle
  • E. Katherine Kerr as Woman Judge
  • Liza Harris as Reporter #1
  • Bill Boggs as Reporter #2
  • Bo Rucker as Reporter #3
  • Michael Lombard as Judge Poe
  • Marc Manfro as Bailiff #1
  • J. Nester as Bailiff #2
  • John Rothman as Broygo
  • George Sperdakos as Technician
  • Hollis Granville as Old Man #1
  • Edward Seamon as Old Man #2
  • Patrick Joseph Byrnes as Jogger #1
  • Gregory Lichtenson as Jogger #2
  • Socorro Santiago as Nurse
  • Marcia DeBonis as Nurse #2
  • Marie Stuart Vassallo as Patient Marie
  • Tom Riis Farrell as Priest
  • Harold Surratt as Orderly #1
  • Alfonse D'amato as Senator Alfonse D'Amato
  • Charles A. Gargano as Ambassador Charles Gagano
  • Lou Rudin as Lou Rudin
  • Ernie Grunfeld as Ernie Grunfeld
  • Alan Grubman as Alan Grubman
  • Al Cerullo as Helicopter Pilot
  • Rich Campbell as Band - Cadillac Moon
  • Cliff Hackford as Band - Cadillac Moon
  • Dave Noyes as Band - Cadillac Moon
  • Mike Nugent as Band - Cadillac Moon
  • Al Santoriello as Band - Cadillac Moon
  • Paul Benedict as Walter Krasna (uncredited)
  • Delroy Lindo as Phillipe Moyez (uncredited)
  • Alison Miller as Demon Sculpture - Main Woman (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 232

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 51722
6 to 102137
11 to 151416
16 to 20721
21 to 2501
26 to 30558
31 to 351016
36 to 4018
41 to 45018
46 to 5043
51 to 55843
56 to 6084
61 to 652928
66 to 70531
71 to 75019
76 to 80121
81 to 851815
86 to 90225
91 to 95437
96 to 10005
101 to 10571
106 to 11064
111 to 1151037
116 to 1201922
121 to 125848
126 to 130027
131 to 13513
136 to 14000
141 to 14500
146 to 15002
151 to 1551718
156 to 160116
161 to 165129
166 to 17006
171 to 17509
176 to 18004
181 to 1852212
186 to 19023
191 to 19526
196 to 2001213
201 to 205353
206 to 21028
211 to 21513
216 to 22000
221 to 22500
226 to 230211
231 to 23200

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.
JACKIE: You must be Mary Ann -- Welcome. I'm Jackie Heath... MARY ANN: It's so sweet of you to come by. JACKIE: Please. We live across the hall. MARY ANN: You're kidding?
JACKIE: We had them paint everything white. Let you see it naked before you pick your palette. MARY ANN: What am I picking? JACKIE: Palette. Your colors.
MARY ANN: Nice to see you... CHRISTABELLA: Have a lovely evening.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

292 lines from women, 723 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

19 women and 47 men in the cast. 11 women and 28 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,057. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 67 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (2,980), men 76% (9,365). Women have 29% 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

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Taylor Hackford (man)
Written by
Jonathan Lemkin (man), Tony Gilroy (man)
From the novel by
Andrew Neiderman (man)
Produced by
Anne Kopelson (woman), Arnold Kopelson (man), Arnon Milchan (man)
Shot by
Andrzej Bartkowiak (man)
Edited by
Mark Warner (man)
Music by
James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by
Bruno Rubeo (man)
Costumes by
Judianna Makovsky (woman)
Cast by
Mary Colquhoun (woman), Nancy Klopper (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    9 women, 12 men, 8 not listed

  • Other crew

    3 women, 7 men, 12 not listed

  • Sound

    1 women, 13 men, 5 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    3 women, 3 men, 4 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    1 women, 2 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 37 on average. Men: 47 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Charlize Theron 22, Connie Nielsen 32, Tamara Tunie 38, Judith Ivey 46, Debra Monk 48

Men

Keanu Reeves 33, Ruben Santiago-Hudson 40, Jeffrey Jones 51, Craig T. Nelson 53, Al Pacino 57

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.7 times what it cost.

Budget
$57 million
Box office
$153 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 232 scenes and 1,057 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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