Fails the Bechdel test

The Lincoln Lawyer

Name: The Lincoln Lawyer
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Brad Furman, written by John Romano and Michael Connelly.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 9 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

Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy Realtor's son is accused of assaulting a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against him, he learns that this case might be linked to an old case of his.

Released: 18 Mar 2011
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 63 / 100
Awards: 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Mick 471 lines, man
Louis 116 lines, man
Maggie 71 lines, woman
Ted 65 lines, man
Raul 45 lines, man
Val 33 lines, man
Reggie 28 lines, woman
Judge Fullbright 26 lines, man
Corliss 25 lines, man
Lorna 23 lines, woman

Full cast, 46 people

Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller
Ryan Phillippe as Louis Roulet
William H. Macy as Frank Levin
Marisa Tomei as Maggie McPherson
Josh Lucas as Ted Minton
John Leguizamo as Val Valenzuela
Michael Peña as Jesus Martinez
Bob Gunton as Cecil Dobbs
Frances Fisher as Mary Windsor
Trace Adkins as Eddie Vogel
Bryan Cranston as Detective Lankford
Michaela Conlin as Detective Heidi Sobel
Michael Paré as Detective Kurlen
Laurence Mason as Earl
Margarita Levieva as Regina 'Reggie' Campo
Shea Whigham as DJ Corliss
Pell James as Lorna
Kate Moennig as Gloria
Mackenzie Aladjem as Hayley Haller
Erin Carufel as Leslie Faire
Yari De Leon as Donna Renteria
Reggie Baker as Judge Fullbright
Javier Grajeda as Bailiff Reynaldo
David Castro as Harold Casey
Conor O'Farrell as Judge Orton Powell
Donnie Smith as Sticks
Eric Etebari as Charles Talbot
Sam Upton as Officer Maxwell
Matthew Moreno as Officer #2
L. Emille Thomas as Officer #3
Stephanie Mace as Diner Waitress
Randy Mulkey as Bartender
Melanie Benz as Assistant DA
Melanie Molnar as Junior Prosecutor
Christian George as San Quentin Guard
Jeff Cole as Van Nuys Judge
Keith Middlebrook as Donald Solmor (uncredited)
Mark Casimir Dyniewicz Jr. as Defendant / Mugshot Suspect (uncredited)
Rachel Wittman as Maggie's Friend (uncredited)
Robert Amstler as L.A. County Sheriff (uncredited)
Tilda Del Toro as Officer (uncredited)
Rebecca Jordan as Diner Waitress (uncredited)
Monica Cabral as Waitress (uncredited)
Ryan Van de Kamp Buchanan as Paramedic (uncredited)
Sophia Strauss as Soccer Player (uncredited)
Ron Kari as Biker (uncredited)

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 124

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	2
4 to 6	0	36
7 to 9	6	22
10 to 12	8	45
13 to 15	3	29
16 to 18	18	46
19 to 21	1	23
22 to 24	13	28
25 to 27	0	2
28 to 30	0	13
31 to 33	0	40
34 to 36	1	36
37 to 39	1	21
40 to 42	6	6
43 to 45	16	10
46 to 48	5	5
49 to 51	0	17
52 to 54	0	14
55 to 57	0	44
58 to 60	4	11
61 to 63	6	22
64 to 66	0	0
67 to 69	3	22
70 to 72	3	14
73 to 75	0	12
76 to 78	4	13
79 to 81	2	34
82 to 84	5	14
85 to 87	39	57
88 to 90	0	12
91 to 93	6	42
94 to 96	0	0
97 to 99	5	9
100 to 102	5	100
103 to 105	0	16
106 to 108	6	26
109 to 111	7	29
112 to 114	0	4
115 to 117	0	1
118 to 120	2	2
121 to 123	8	10
124 to 124	0	1

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, 17 are women's.

183 lines from women, 890 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

17 women and 28 men in the cast. 9 women and 20 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 40 of 1,102. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 100 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (2,669), men 83% (13,424).

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: Brad Furman (man)
Written by: John Romano (man)
From the novel by: Michael Connelly (man)
Produced by: Gary Lucchesi (man), Sidney Kimmel (man), Tom Rosenberg (man), Richard S. Wright (man), Scott Steindorff (man)
Shot by: Lukas Ettlin (man)
Edited by: Jeff McEvoy (man)
Music by: Cliff Martinez (man)
Production design by: Charisse Cardenas (woman)
Costumes by: Erin Benach (woman)
Cast by: Deborah Aquila (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)