Passes the Bechdel test

The Place Beyond the Pines

Name: The Place Beyond the Pines
Released: 2013

2013. Directed by Derek Cianfrance, written by Derek Cianfrance and Ben Coccio and Darius Marder.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 222.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

A mysterious and mythical motorcycle racer, Luke, (Ryan Gosling) drives out of a traveling carnival globe of death and whizzes through the backstreets of Schenectady, New York, desperately trying to connect with a former lover, Romina, (Eva Mendes) who recently and secretly gave birth to the stunt rider's son. In an attempt to provide for his new family, Luke quits the carnival life and commits a series of bank robberies aided by his superior riding ability. The stakes rise as Luke is put on a collision course with an ambitious police officer, Avery Cross, (Bradley Cooper) looking to quickly move up the ranks in a police department riddled with corruption. The sweeping drama unfolds over fifteen years as the sins of the past haunt the present days lives of two high school boys wrestling with the legacy they've inherited. The only refuge is found in the place beyond the pines.

Released: 19 Apr 2013
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 68 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 22 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Avery 156 lines, man
Luke 122 lines, man
Jason 120 lines, man
Robin 99 lines, man
Romina 68 lines, woman
Chief Weirzbowski 35 lines, man
Paul Deluca 35 lines, man
Scott 35 lines, man
Kofi 30 lines, man
Jennifer 24 lines, woman

Full cast, 65 people

Ryan Gosling as Luke Glanton
Bradley Cooper as Avery Cross
Eva Mendes as Romina Gutierrez
Rose Byrne as Jennifer Cross
Ray Liotta as Peter Deluca
Dane DeHaan as Jason Kancam
Emory Cohen as AJ Cross
Mahershala Ali as Kofi Kancam
Bruce Greenwood as Bill Killcullen
Ben Mendelsohn as Robin Van Der Hook
Harris Yulin as Al Cross
Robert Clohessy as Chief Weirzbowski
Gabe Fazio as Scott
Olga Merediz as Malena Gutierrez
Craig Van Hook as Jack
Angelo Anthony Pizza as Baby Jason
John Facci as Priest
Tula as Robin's Dog
Penny as Robin's Dog
Cynthia Pelletier-Sullivan as Teller #1 - Bank #1
Mackenzie Trainor as Teller #2 - Bank #1
Nicole Califano as Teller #3 - Bank #1
Shannon Plumb as Lady In Ice Cream Shop
Tracey Augustin as Teller #1 - Bank #2
Ean Egas as Teller #2 - Bank #2
Bob Dieterich as Banker Outside Bank #2
Thomas Mattice as Booking Officer
Adam Nowichi as Arresting Officer
Mark J. Caruso as Court Lawyer
G. Douglas Griset as Judge #1
Vanessa Thorpe as Court Officer
Gail Martino as Teller - Bank #3
Brian Smyj as Officer Jefferson
Dorothy Rutherford as Mother At Home
Paul Steele as Officer at Shootout Scene
Travis Jackson Campbell as Baby AJ
Trevor Jackson Campbell as Baby AJ
Jan Libertucci as Nurse
Sabrina Dhammi as Reporter #1
Heather Chestnut as Jennifer's Mother
Greta Seacat as Cory Gilbeau
Luca Pierucci as Doc Crowley
Jessica Layton as Reporter #2
James J. Gleason as Funeral Director
Patrick Husted as Preacher
Joe McCarthy as Campaign Manager
Jefrey Pollock as Campaign Advisor
Lynette Howell Taylor as Political Media Advisor
Sarah Curcio as Guidance Counselor
Ephraim Benton as Benny
Mark McCracken as Drug Busting Cop #1
Adriel Linyear as Drug Busting Cop #2
Kevin Green as Interrogating Cop
Jennifer Sober as Public Defender
Melissa Mills as Judge #2
Alex Pulling as Alex
Dante Shafer as Dante
Kayla Smalls as Vanessa Kancam
Frank J. Falvo as Pharmacy Clerk
Leah Bliven as Leah
Whitney Hudson as Whitney
Breanna Dolen as Breanna
Hugh T. Farley as State Senator
Michael Cullen as Mr. Anthony
Jeremie Carlson as Student

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 222

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 5	5	6
6 to 10	10	10
11 to 15	0	11
16 to 20	6	27
21 to 25	0	17
26 to 30	0	31
31 to 35	10	31
36 to 40	0	11
41 to 45	0	5
46 to 50	0	4
51 to 55	1	7
56 to 60	8	14
61 to 65	0	3
66 to 70	2	12
71 to 75	0	5
76 to 80	0	6
81 to 85	1	12
86 to 90	10	45
91 to 95	3	13
96 to 100	2	25
101 to 105	0	22
106 to 110	0	34
111 to 115	2	32
116 to 120	10	32
121 to 125	0	9
126 to 130	0	34
131 to 135	0	0
136 to 140	6	11
141 to 145	0	10
146 to 150	0	22
151 to 155	2	5
156 to 160	14	8
161 to 165	1	16
166 to 170	0	30
171 to 175	0	16
176 to 180	0	13
181 to 185	0	3
186 to 190	0	31
191 to 195	5	12
196 to 200	0	15
201 to 205	0	7
206 to 210	0	39
211 to 215	0	2
216 to 220	0	9
221 to 222	0	14

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

ROMINA: Mama call an ambulance. MALENA: Leave!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.

98 lines from women, 721 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 18 men in the cast. 3 women and 16 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 951. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 126 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 9% of the words (772), men 91% (8,165). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance (man)
Written by: Derek Cianfrance (man), Darius Marder (man), Ben Coccio (man)
Story by: Ben Coccio (man), Derek Cianfrance (man)
Produced by: Sidney Kimmel (man), Jamie Patricof (man), Alex Orlovsky (man), Lynette Howell Taylor (woman)
Shot by: Sean Bobbitt (man)
Edited by: Ron Patane (man), Jim Helton (man)
Music by: Mike Patton (man)
Production design by: Inbal Weinberg (woman)
Costumes by: Erin Benach (woman)
Cast by: Cindy Tolan (woman)