Fails the Bechdel test

The Matador

Name: The Matador
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by Richard Shepard, written by Richard Shepard.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
7 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

A chance encounter between a travelling salesman and a lonely hitman triggers a strangely profound relationship which provokes each to act in ways neither would have imagined possible. Fate steps in to form a friendship between two men from irreconcilable worlds that will alter the lives of both forever.

Released: 27 Jan 2006
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 65 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 6 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Julian 457 lines, man
Danny 355 lines, man
Bean 63 lines, woman
Mr. Randy 39 lines, man
Juljan 13 lines
Lovell 13 lines, man
Phil 10 lines, man
Gretchen 8 lines
Ten Year Old Boy 8 lines, man
Juuan 6 lines

Full cast, 43 people

Pierce Brosnan as Julian Noble
Greg Kinnear as Danny Wright
Hope Davis as Carolyn 'Bean' Wright
Portia Dawson as Genevive
Adam Scott as Phil Garrison
Israel Tellez as The Matador
Arlin Miller as Radio DJ (voice)
Azucena Medina as Young Denver Fling
Jonah Meyerson as Ten Year Old Boy
Wiveca Bonerais as Ten Year Old Boy's Mother
Roberto Sosa as Skinny Mexican Man
Antonio Zavala Kugler as Hotel Bartender 1
Ramon Alvarez as Shooting Stand Owner
Luz Maria Molina as School Girl
Philip Baker Hall as Mr. Randy
Rachel Schwartz as Cantina Turista #2
Carolyn Horwitz as Cantina Turista #1
Jorge Robles as Hotel Bartender 2
Guillermo Ruiz as Fat Man
Dylan Baker as Lovell
Hanny Saenz as Fat Man's Girlfriend
Gabriela Goldsmith as Flirting Woman at Outdoor Café
Claudia Lobo as Vienna Fling
Maureen Muldoon as Australian Bar Waitress
Bernice J. Alvarado as Budapest Ballerina
Adriana Dávila as Budapest Ballerina
Silvia Ehnis as Budapest Ballerina
Deborah Rocha as Budapest Ballerina
Karla Salvador as Budapest Ballerina
Isabel Villa as Budapest Ballerina
Arturo Echeverría as Manila Target
Ramon Valverde as Young Julian in Manila
William Raymond as Mr. Stick
Alejandro Amaya as Additional Matador
Jose Luis Angelino as Additional Matador
Guillermo Capetillo as Additional Matador
Humberto Flores as Additional Matador
Jose Mauricio Morett as Additional Matador
Federico Pizarro as Additional Matador
Penelope Kaufer as Lady Flirting in a Bar (uncredited)
Vivianne Nacif as Voice on Answering Machine (voice) (uncredited)
Benjamin Ocaranza as Fisherman (uncredited)
César Ámigo Aguilar as Man in Bar (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 69

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	11	26
3 to 4	11	32
5 to 6	0	33
7 to 8	0	11
9 to 10	0	84
11 to 12	0	31
13 to 14	0	131
15 to 16	0	1
17 to 18	0	12
19 to 20	1	45
21 to 22	0	141
23 to 24	1	33
25 to 26	0	0
27 to 28	0	2
29 to 30	0	23
31 to 32	0	0
33 to 34	30	64
35 to 36	0	3
37 to 38	0	1
39 to 40	1	5
41 to 42	0	6
43 to 44	2	12
45 to 46	14	61
47 to 48	0	3
49 to 50	0	72
51 to 52	0	1
53 to 54	0	0
55 to 56	0	0
57 to 58	0	0
59 to 60	0	0
61 to 62	0	2
63 to 64	0	30
65 to 66	0	11
67 to 68	0	14
69 to 69	0	16

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.

71 lines from women, 906 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

7 women and 10 men in the cast. 3 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 18 of 1,049. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 352 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 7% of the words (685), men 93% (8,674).

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

7 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Richard Shepard (man)
Written by: Richard Shepard (man)
Produced by: Pierce Brosnan (man), Sean Furst (man), Bryan Furst (man), Beau St. Clair (woman)
Shot by: David Tattersall (man)
Edited by: Carole Kravetz Aykanian (woman)
Music by: Rolfe Kent (man)
Production design by: Robert Pearson (man)
Costumes by: Catherine Marie Thomas (woman)
Cast by: Cathy Sandrich Gelfond (woman), Sig De Miguel (man), Wendy Weidman (woman), Amanda Mackey (woman), Carla Hool (woman)