Fails the Bechdel test

The Mechanic

Name: The Mechanic
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

No 1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters.
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

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

Released: 28 Jan 2011
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.5 / 10
Metascore: 49 / 100
Awards: 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bishop 189 lines, man
Steve 154 lines, man
Mckenna 25 lines, man
Woman 17 lines, woman
Louise 13 lines
Dean 6 lines, man
Grocer 4 lines
On The Tv 4 lines
Steve'S P.O.V 4 lines
Bishop'S P.O.V 3 lines

Full cast, 25 people

Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop
Ben Foster as Steve McKenna
Donald Sutherland as Harry McKenna
Mini Anden as Sara
Tony Goldwyn as Dean Sanderson
Christa Campbell as Kelly
Katarzyna Wolejnio as Maria
Jeff Chase as Burke
Eddie J. Fernandez as Lara's Guard
John McConnell as Vaughn
Lara Grice as Mrs. Finch
Ardy Brent Carlson as Bell Hop
James Logan as Jorge Lara
Joshua Bridgewater as Car Jacker
Joel Davis as Husband
Mark Nutter as Mr. Finch
David Dahlgren as Dr. X
J.D. Evermore as Gun Runner
John Teague as Ney
David Leitch as Sebastian
Ada Michelle Loridans as Finch's Daughter
Matt McColm as Vaughn's Bodyguard (uncredited)
Chad Stahelski as Vaughn's Bodyguard (uncredited)
Aaron Saxton as SWAT (uncredited)
Dawn Neufeld as News Reporter #1

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 247

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 6	0	0
7 to 12	0	0
13 to 18	1	2
19 to 24	0	0
25 to 30	4	4
31 to 36	3	4
37 to 42	2	40
43 to 48	0	1
49 to 54	1	5
55 to 60	0	13
61 to 66	0	2
67 to 72	1	20
73 to 78	0	31
79 to 84	0	3
85 to 90	0	5
91 to 96	0	19
97 to 102	0	38
103 to 108	0	21
109 to 114	4	1
115 to 120	3	22
121 to 126	0	10
127 to 132	0	11
133 to 138	0	1
139 to 144	0	1
145 to 150	0	8
151 to 156	0	9
157 to 162	0	0
163 to 168	0	11
169 to 174	2	23
175 to 180	0	1
181 to 186	0	6
187 to 192	0	5
193 to 198	0	28
199 to 204	0	5
205 to 210	0	11
211 to 216	0	7
217 to 222	0	6
223 to 228	0	2
229 to 234	0	0
235 to 240	0	8
241 to 246	0	1
247 to 247	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, 5 are women's.

21 lines from women, 385 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 17 men in the cast. 2 women and 4 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 461. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 139 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 (461), men 94% (7,401). Women have 5% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 1 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Simon West (man)
Written by: Richard Wenk (man), Lewis John Carlino (man)
Story by: Lewis John Carlino (man)
Produced by: René Besson (gender not listed), William Chartoff (man), David Winkler (man)
Shot by: Eric Schmidt (man)
Edited by: T.G. Herrington (gender not listed), Todd E. Miller (man)
Music by: Mark Isham (man)
Production design by: Richard Lassalle (gender not listed)
Cast by: Cathy Sandrich Gelfond (woman), Amanda Mackey (woman)