Passes the Bechdel test
The Nice Guys
2016. Directed by Shane Black, written by Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
32 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 117. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
In 1977 Los Angeles, single father and licensed PI Holland March (Gosling) is hired to investigate the apparent suicide of famous porn star Misty Mountains. As the trail leads him to track down a girl named Amelia (Qualley), he encounters less-licensed and less-hands-off private eye Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) and his brass knuckles, both hired by the young hippie. However, the situation takes a turn for the worse when Amelia vanishes and it becomes apparent that March wasn't the only interested party. As both men are forced to team up, they need to take on a world filled with eccentric goons, strippers dressed as mermaids, and even a possible government conspiracy.
- Released
- 20 May 2016
- Genres
- Action, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 10 wins & 34 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- March 370 lines, man
- Healy 314 lines, man
- Holly 94 lines, woman
- Kuttner 26 lines, woman
- Amelia 25 lines, woman
- Tally 21 lines, woman
- Mrs. Glenn 19 lines, woman
- Joe The Bartender 17 lines
- Kid 14 lines
- Chet 13 lines, man
Full cast, 67 people
- Russell Crowe as Jackson Healy
- Ryan Gosling as Holland March
- Angourie Rice as Holly March
- Matt Bomer as John Boy
- Margaret Qualley as Amelia Kuttner
- Yaya DaCosta as Tally
- Keith David as Older Guy
- Beau Knapp as Blueface
- Lois Smith as Mrs. Glenn
- Murielle Telio as Misty Mountains
- Gil Gerard as Bergen Paulsen
- Daisy Tahan as Jessica
- Kim Basinger as Judith Kuttner
- Jack Kilmer as Chet
- Lance Valentine Butler as Kid on Bike
- Ty Simpkins as Bobby
- Cayla Brady as Young Beauty
- Tammi Arender as Reporter
- Rebecca Dalton Rusk as Fred's Widow
- Terence Rosemore as Bourbon Bartender
- John L. Morris as Peep Show Employee
- Michelle Rivera Huckaby as Medic
- Nathaniel 'Nate' Scott as Medic
- Amy Goddard as Nun
- Frank Mottek as Radio Annoucer (voice)
- Joanne Spracklen as Healy's Ex Wife
- Greg Lindsay as Stand Up Comic
- Maddie Compton as Janet
- J. Todd Anderson as Smoker at Protest
- Meredith Berg as Die-In Protester
- Lauren Marini as Die-In Protester
- Ward Roberts as Die-In Protester
- Ryan Powers as Die-In Protester
- Lauren Bair as Die-In Protester
- Zarah Kulczycki as Die-In Protester
- Hana Yuka Sano as Die-In Protester
- Marvin Ross as Valet at Sid's
- Rachele Brooke Smith as Party Girl
- Adriana Karras as Party Girl
- Milo Wesley as Pornookio
- Marilyn Chen as Contortionist
- Matthew Warzel as Bartender at Sid's
- Jordan Hairston as Painted Girl
- Angela Everhart as Bartender at Mermaid Bar
- Joshua Hoover as Dork
- Yvonne Zima as Young Porn Queen
- Lexi Johnson as Pocahontas
- Chloe Hurst as Exotic Girl at Sid's
- Gary Weeks as Officer McMillan
- Charles Green as Dog Walker
- Gary Wolf as Bartender at Flight Deck
- Hannibal Buress as Bumble
- Steve Wilder as Perry the Lawyer
- Garrett Carpenter as Buddy
- Hank Quillen as Maintenance Man
- Michael Beasley as Bartender at Car Show
- Dominic Bagarozzi as Paulsen-in-Porn
- Karrueche Tran as Tally-in-Porn
- Carson Meyer as Bartender at Mexican Restaurant
- Robert Downey Jr. as Sid Shattuck (uncredited)
- Sala Baker as Bodyguard (uncredited)
- Kimberly Battista as Spoon Girl (uncredited)
- Courtlyn Cannan as Teddy Bear Girl (uncredited)
- Mark Kubr as Man in Diner (uncredited)
- Elayne Boosler as Self (uncredited)
- Emily Brobst as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Chris Stein as Porn Star
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 117
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 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 14 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 5 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 31 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 11 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 22 |
| 31 to 33 | 7 | 50 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 77 |
| 37 to 39 | 7 | 11 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 45 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 10 |
| 46 to 48 | 5 | 23 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 9 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 7 | 15 |
| 58 to 60 | 19 | 26 |
| 61 to 63 | 14 | 49 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 41 |
| 70 to 72 | 41 | 87 |
| 73 to 75 | 17 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 11 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 16 |
| 88 to 90 | 17 | 37 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 21 |
| 94 to 96 | 14 | 31 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 10 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 9 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 8 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 4 |
| 109 to 111 | 4 | 7 |
| 112 to 114 | 8 | 8 |
| 115 to 117 | 11 | 25 |
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.
HOLLY: So what are you gonna do? AMELIA: -.. I don't know... I haven't figured it out yet... I'm just tired now. I'm tired.
HOLLY: I like her! JESSICA: I like her dress.
JESSICA: Holly, what are you doing?! Are you CRAZY? HOLLY: There are handcuffs in the desk, asshole. Get them. Slow. HOLLY: HEY! Did you hear me?
TALLY: SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! TALLY: Holly..? You can come in. TALLY: Very clever, Holly. HOLLY: Thanks, I thought so--
TALLY: Give me that, you fucked-up little HIPPIE!! HOLLY: Lady, you want it..? Go get it.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.
222 lines from women, 761 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
32 women and 33 men in the cast. 12 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,076.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 108 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (2,436), men 74% (6,903). Women have 23% 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
16
Two men
61
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Shane Black (man)
- Written by
- Shane Black (man), Anthony Bagarozzi (man)
- Produced by
- Joel Silver (man), Mohammed Al-Zahrani (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Philippe Rousselot (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Negron (man)
- Music by
- John Ottman (man), David Buckley (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Bridgland (man)
- Costumes by
- Kym Barrett (woman)
- Cast by
- Sarah Halley Finn (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
16 women, 18 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Angourie Rice 15, Margaret Qualley 21, Murielle Telio 23, Yaya DaCosta 33, Lois Smith 85
Men
Beau Knapp 27, Ryan Gosling 35, Matt Bomer 38, Russell Crowe 52, Keith David 59
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $50 million
- Box office
- $71.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 117 scenes and 1,076 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
