Fails the Bechdel test

The Good Shepherd

Name: The Good Shepherd
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by Robert De Niro, written by Eric Roth.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 8 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

The film

Laconic and self-contained, Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) heads C.I.A. covert operations during the Bay of Pigs. The agency suspects that Fidel Castro was tipped, so Wilson looks for the leak. As he investigates, he recalls, in a series of flashbacks, his father's death, student days at Yale (poetry; Skull and Bones), recruitment into the fledgling O.S.S., truncated affairs, a shotgun marriage, cutting his teeth on spy craft in London, distance from his son, the emergence of the Cold War, and relationships with agency, British, and Soviet counterparts. We watch his idealism give way to something else: disclosing the nature of that something else is at the heart of this movie's narration as he closes in on the leak.

Released: 22 Dec 2006
Genres: Drama, History, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 13 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

James 226 lines, man
Ray Brocco 45 lines, man
Robert 31 lines, man
John Russell 30 lines
Clover 26 lines
Sam Papich 25 lines, man
Petra Sanko 24 lines, man
Valentin 22 lines, man
Philip Allen 21 lines, man
Richard Hayes 19 lines, man

Full cast, 99 people

Matt Damon as Edward Bell Wilson
Angelina Jolie as Margaret Ann Russell
Robert De Niro as Bill Sullivan
Alec Baldwin as Sam Murach
William Hurt as Philip Allen
Joe Pesci as Joseph Palmi
John Turturro as Raymond Brocco
Billy Crudup as Archibald Cummings
Tammy Blanchard as Laura
Michael Gambon as Dr. Fredericks
Timothy Hutton as Thomas Wilson
John Sessions as Valentin Mironov #1/Yuri Modin
Keir Dullea as Senator John Russell, Sr.
Martina Gedeck as Hanna Schiller
Gabriel Macht as John Russell, Jr.
Lee Pace as Richard Hayes
Eddie Redmayne as Edward Wilson Jr.
Mark Ivanir as Valentin Mironov #2
Yelena Shmulenson as Dollar Woman
Jack Martin as Dollar Little Boy
Anne-Marie Cusson as Philip Allen's Secretary
Robert Bermudez Cordell as Bay of Pigs Voiceover (voice)
David Crommett as Spanish Translator
Michael Arden as Pinafore Actor
Justin Bohon as Pinafore Actor
Justin Daniel as Pinafore Actor
Michael Flanigan as Pinafore Actor
John Hill as Pinafore Actor
Will Reynolds as Pinafore Actor
Michael Seelbach as Pinafore Actor
Ryan Michael Shaw as Pinafore Actor
Stephen Powell as HMS Pinafore Singer
Henry Gummer as Bonesman / Boatswain
Gregory Marcel as Dancing Skeleton
Austin Williams as Young Edward Wilson
Sophie Sutton as Connie Wilson
Lars Gerhard as Mr. Haupt
Tessa Kim as Mr. Haupt's Translator
Peter Kybart as Dr. Manheim
Rob Barnes as Man at Jazz Club
Lee Bryant as Mrs. John Russell, Sr.
Laila Robins as Toddy Allen
Redman Maxfield as Older Bonesman 1940
John C. Whitehead as Reverend Collins
Jeff Skowron as Deer Island Crooner 1940
Oleg Stefan as Ulysses / Stas Siyanko
Meredith Deacon as John Russell, Jr.'s Girlfriend
Josh Casaubon as Army Man 1940
Christopher Evan Welch as Photography Technical Officer
Tuc Watkins as Sound Technical Officer
Leonard Logsdail as Tailor
Eric Lindh as Tailor Shop Guard
Trace Taylor as Cryptographer
Amanda Barron as Cryptographer
James Faulkner as Lord Cooper
Robert Ian Mackenzie as Cambridge Club Butler
Dieter Riesle as Herr Franck
Sándor Técsy as Sasha, Ulysses' Aide
Tommy Nelson as Edward Wilson Jr. - Age 6-7
Greg Plitt as Guard with Sullivan
Marcos Cohen as Dr. Ibanez
Jeff Applegate as Michael Johnson
Jon Monett as CIA Insect Man
Sandee Conrad as Edward's Secretary
Jonathan Dokuchitz as Husband Dinner Guest
Susan Haskell as Wife Dinner Guest
Sjoerd Dejong as Santa Claus
Neal Huff as Teletype Operations Officer
Jason Butler Harner as Teletype Communications Officer
Amy Wright as Safe House Operations Officer
Matthew Humphreys as Cherry Orchard Actor
Karron Graves as Cherry Orchard Actress
Robert C. Kirk as Laura's Taxi Driver
Reathel Bean as 'Dame' Bonesman
Jerry Coyle as 'Dame' Bonesman
Wally Dunn as 'Dame' Bonesman
Roger Rathburn as 'Dame' Bonesman
Michael Melvoin as Piano Player
Glenn Kalison as Telephone Operations Officer
John Knox as Technical Service Officer
Benjamin Eakeley as Bonesman 1960
Gino Cafarelli as Palmi's Bodyguard
Tommy DeVito as Palmi's Bodyguard
Stefanie Nava as Tina Palmi
Isabella Cimato as Palmi's Granddaughter
Jimmy Marchese as Palmi's Grandson
Robert Prescott as Bonesman MC 1961
Bill McHugh as Reverend Christiansen
Ann Hampton Callaway as 1961 Deer Island Singer
Christopher Druckman as FBI Agent
Liya Kebede as Miriam
John Henry as Philip Allen's Driver
Josh Pence as Bonesman
Dave Payton as College Student (uncredited)
Vladislav Kozlov as Executioner (uncredited)
Nyasha Hatendi as Thomas Lumumba (uncredited)
Diana Shneider as Irina Russell (uncredited)
Alec Von Bargen as Fidel Castro (uncredited)
Rick Voight as Mr. Robbins (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 20% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 166

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	2	0
5 to 8	0	17
9 to 12	0	3
13 to 16	0	19
17 to 20	2	27
21 to 24	0	2
25 to 28	7	10
29 to 32	0	19
33 to 36	1	13
37 to 40	0	14
41 to 44	0	22
45 to 48	0	33
49 to 52	3	50
53 to 56	0	20
57 to 60	9	10
61 to 64	0	7
65 to 68	0	17
69 to 72	0	8
73 to 76	0	2
77 to 80	0	24
81 to 84	2	12
85 to 88	2	24
89 to 92	0	9
93 to 96	1	28
97 to 100	0	13
101 to 104	0	1
105 to 108	0	1
109 to 112	6	17
113 to 116	1	3
117 to 120	1	7
121 to 124	0	25
125 to 128	0	3
129 to 132	0	13
133 to 136	0	6
137 to 140	3	25
141 to 144	0	17
145 to 148	0	12
149 to 152	0	1
153 to 156	0	5
157 to 160	0	0
161 to 164	0	0
165 to 166	0	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 7 are women's.

40 lines from women, 539 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

17 women and 54 men in the cast. 8 women and 26 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 147 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 6% of the words (446), men 94% (7,309). Women have 7% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit D: 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert De Niro (man)
Written by: Eric Roth (man)
Produced by: Robert De Niro (man), James G. Robinson (man), Jane Rosenthal (woman), Lorena Reyes (gender not listed)
Shot by: Robert Richardson (man)
Edited by: Tariq Anwar (man)
Music by: Marcelo Zarvos (man), Bruce Fowler (man)
Production design by: Jeannine Oppewall (woman)
Cast by: Sig De Miguel (man), Cathy Sandrich Gelfond (woman), Amanda Mackey (woman), Alena Garetovskaya (gender not listed)