Fails the Bechdel test
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
2013. Directed by Don Scardino, written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and Chad Kultgen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 3 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas Strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerrilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show is starting to look stale. But there's still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act - both onstage and off - if only Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.
- Released
- 15 Mar 2013
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 44 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Burt 377 lines, man
- Anton 152 lines, man
- Nicole 101 lines, woman
- Haines 71 lines, man
- Rance 53 lines, man
- Munny 48 lines, man
- Rick The Implausible 17 lines, man
- Dom 13 lines, man
- Judah 13 lines, man
- Willy 12 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
- Steve Carell as Burt Wonderstone
- Steve Buscemi as Anton Marvelton
- Olivia Wilde as Jane
- Jim Carrey as Steve Gray
- James Gandolfini as Doug Munny
- Alan Arkin as Rance Holloway
- Jay Mohr as Rick the Implausible
- Michael Herbig as Lucius Belvedere
- Mason Cook as Young Burt
- Luke Vanek as Young Anton
- Zachary Gordon as Bully
- Richard Wolffe as Richard Wolffe
- Brad Garrett as Dom
- David Copperfield as Self
- Fiona Hale as Grace
- Sonya Eddy as Hanna
- Ron Ostrow as Jim the Bartender
- Joshua Erenberg as Judah Munny
- Ron Pearson as Juggler Ventriloquist
- Robert Ray Manning Jr. as Male Doctor
- Gillian Jacobs as Miranda
- Christina Gausas as Mother
- Tate Hanyok as Nicole #1
- Charlie Hartsock as Onlooker
- John Francis Daley as Paramedic 1
- Freedom Bridgewater as Paramedic 2
- Melissa Ordway as Reporter in Las Vegas
- Vance DeGeneres as Reporter in Cambodia
- Murray Gershenz as Elderly Man
- John Rubano as Store Manager
- Bryson Barretto as Cambodian Boy
- Forrest Wheeler as Cambodian Boy
- Mia Sun as Villager
- Kelly Sry as Villager
- Augie Isaac as Young Boy
- Mark Engelhardt as Stagehand
- Derek Graf as Guy
- John Lewis as Buddy
- Daniel Spink as Spectator
- Chad Kultgen as Spectator
- Marceline Hugot as Piñata Woman
- Leni Ito as Japanese Girl
- Jonathan Goldstein as Stagehand at B&A Theater
- Didi Tossapon Banks as London Onlooker
- Jessica McClain as Doug Munny's Wife
- Chyna Chuu as Doug Munny's Valet
- Stan Knight as Elvis Impersonator
- Rusty Meyers as Sleazy Man (uncredited)
- Brandon Chapmond
- Erin Burnett as Self
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 120
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 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 20 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 25 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 15 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 54 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 17 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 6 | 12 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 42 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 42 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 4 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 30 |
| 49 to 51 | 3 | 31 |
| 52 to 54 | 12 | 41 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 7 |
| 58 to 60 | 6 | 35 |
| 61 to 63 | 9 | 12 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 19 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 3 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 4 | 22 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 10 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 30 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 18 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 25 |
| 94 to 96 | 12 | 19 |
| 97 to 99 | 14 | 49 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 15 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 25 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 30 |
| 109 to 111 | 7 | 28 |
| 112 to 114 | 2 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 13 | 71 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 25 |
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, 13 are women's.
120 lines from women, 792 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 31 men in the cast. 3 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 20 of 943.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 83 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 10% of the words (891), men 90% (8,423). Women have 13% 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
0
Two men
66
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 18 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Don Scardino (man)
- Written by
- John Francis Daley (man), Jonathan Goldstein (man)
- Story by
- Jonathan Goldstein (man), Chad Kultgen (man), Tyler Mitchell (gender not listed), John Francis Daley (man)
- Produced by
- Chris Bender (man), Tyler Mitchell (gender not listed), Jake Weiner (man), Steve Carell (man)
- Shot by
- Matthew Clark (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Haxall (woman)
- Music by
- Lyle Workman (man)
- Production design by
- Keith P. Cunningham (man)
- Costumes by
- Dayna Pink (woman)
- Cast by
- Lisa Beach (woman), Sarah Katzman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 12 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 11 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Olivia Wilde 29
Men
Mason Cook 12, Jay Mohr 42, Michael Herbig 44, Steve Carell 50, Jim Carrey 51, James Gandolfini 51, Steve Buscemi 55, Alan Arkin 78
Exhibit G: the money
It made 91% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $27.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 943 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
