Passes the Bechdel test

The Hebrew Hammer

Name: The Hebrew Hammer
Released: 2003

2003. Directed by Jonathan Kesselman, written by Jonathan Kesselman.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 64.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

Mordechai Jefferson Carver, aka the Hebrew Hammer, is an orthodox Jewish stud who goes on a mission to save Hanukkah. When Santa Claus's evil son Damian is pushed over the edge by his father's liberal policies, he does away with the Christian patriarch. Subsequently stepping into his father's role, Damian launches a campaign to eradicate the Jewish Holiday. The Hammer joins forces with Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal, the gorgeous and dangerous daughter of the leader of the Jewish Justice League; and his brother-in-arms Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim, the head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, to topple Santa's evil progeny and to save Hanukkah for future generations of Jews.

Released: 25 Mar 2004
Genres: Comedy
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.1 / 10
Metascore: 41 / 100
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Hammer 216 lines, man
Santa 74 lines, man
Esther 64 lines, woman
Chief 44 lines
Mrs. Carver 39 lines, woman
Mohammed 37 lines, man
Tiny Tim 23 lines, man
Tony 15 lines, man
Jamal 9 lines, man
Santa Claus 9 lines, man

Full cast, 40 people

Adam Goldberg as Mordechai Jefferson Carver
Judy Greer as Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal
Andy Dick as Damian Claus
Mario Van Peebles as Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim
Peter Coyote as JJL Chief Bloomenbergensteinenthal
Nora Dunn as Mrs. Carver
Sean Whalen as Tiny Tim
Tony Cox as Jamal
Richard Riehle as Santa
Melvin Van Peebles as Sweetback
Rachel Dratch as Tikva
Harrison Chad as Schlomo
Jim Petersmith as Skinhead Bartender
Annie McEnroe as Mrs. Highsmith
Grant Rosenmeyer as Young Mordechai
Elaine Hendrix as Blonde Bombshell
Ayelet Ben-Hur as Israeli Rental Agent
Alex Corrado as Tony
Brad Duck as Jimmy
Jason Fuchs as Adolescent Hasidic Boy
Ed Koch as Himself
Gary Pratt as Head Elf
Daryl Wein as Teenage Gentile
Michael Mylett as Gentile Boy No. 1
T.J. Sullivan as Gentile Boy No. 2
Audrey Twitchell as Gentile Girl No. 1
Alexa Eisenstein as Gentile Girl No. 2
Evelyn Page as Old Woman
George Hosmer as Chairman of the Jewish Worldwide Media Conspiracy
Ronald Schultz as ADL Chairman
Leslie Shenkel as JDL Member No. 1
Alan Nebelthau as JDL Member No. 2
Jerome F. Richards as Council Elder
C.P. Lacey as Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. / MC Hammer
Ephraim Benton as Black Teen
Devin Rene Burns as Blonde Gentile Girl
Jimmy Walsh as Freckle-Faced Gentile
Chris McGinn as Samples Woman
Kathryn Gordon as Bambi
Woodrow W. Asai as Mun Chi

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 64

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	1
3 to 4	7	4
5 to 6	3	3
7 to 8	0	14
9 to 10	5	6
11 to 12	0	11
13 to 14	13	22
15 to 16	34	13
17 to 18	0	6
19 to 20	0	2
21 to 22	0	6
23 to 24	0	32
25 to 26	0	23
27 to 28	0	8
29 to 30	1	0
31 to 32	0	2
33 to 34	0	10
35 to 36	0	7
37 to 38	11	47
39 to 40	3	6
41 to 42	6	14
43 to 44	9	9
45 to 46	9	30
47 to 48	1	5
49 to 50	0	0
51 to 52	0	15
53 to 54	0	2
55 to 56	5	41
57 to 58	0	24
59 to 60	0	12
61 to 62	1	32
63 to 64	18	28

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.

MRS. CARVER: I can see. And you also brought a nice girl to come eat by us. MRS. CARVER: So. Do you have a name? ESTHER: It's Esther. MRS. CARVER: From the story of Purim. Well, now that we're all acquainted, let's sit down and start the Sabbath.

ESTHER: I don't think I could eat another latke if you paid me. MRS. CARVER: Everybody ready for the main course?

MRS. CARVER: It's under the sink by my tampons! MRS. CARVER: So, do we have a deal? ESTHER: Deal.

MRS. CARVER: Shabat Shalom everybody! HAMMER/ESTHER: Shabat Shalom!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.

126 lines from women, 435 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 20 men in the cast. 8 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 648. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 104 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,621), men 77% (5,432). Women have 22% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Jonathan Kesselman (gender not listed)
Written by: Jonathan Kesselman (gender not listed)
Produced by: Josh Kesselman (man), Sofia Sondervan (woman), Lisa Fragner (gender not listed)
Shot by: Kurt Brabbee (gender not listed)
Edited by: Dean Holland (man)
Music by: Michael Cohen (gender not listed)
Cast by: Valerie McCaffrey (woman)