Passes the Bechdel test

The Salton Sea

Name: The Salton Sea
Released: 2002

2002. Directed by D.J. Caruso, written by Tony Gayton.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 148.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

After the murder of his beloved wife, Danny Parker is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey he befriends slacker Jimmy the Finn and becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette from her own demons. Danny is antagonized by undercover narcotics agents and sadistic dealer Pooh-Bear.

Released: 21 Jun 2002
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 41 / 100
Awards: 1 win total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Danny 413 lines, man
Colette 76 lines, woman
Jimmy 74 lines, man
Pooh-Bear 65 lines, man
Tanner 63 lines, man
Garcetti 52 lines, man
Kujo 25 lines, man
Liz 25 lines, woman
Danny/Tom 23 lines, man
Bobby 20 lines, man

Full cast, 37 people

Val Kilmer as Tom Van Allen | Danny Parker
Vincent D'Onofrio as Pooh-Bear
Adam Goldberg as Kujo
Luis Guzmán as Quincy
Doug Hutchison as Gus Morgan
Anthony LaPaglia as Al Garcetti
Glenn Plummer as Bobby
Peter Sarsgaard as Jimmy the Finn
Deborah Kara Unger as Colette
Chandra West as Liz
BD Wong as Bubba
R. Lee Ermey as Verne Plummer
Shalom Harlow as Nancy
Shirley Knight as Nancy Plummer
Meat Loaf as Bo
Danny Trejo as Little Bill
Azura Skye as Teresa
Rex Linn as Detective Bookman
Josh Todd as Big Bill
Ricky Trammell as Creeper
Kenji Nakamura as Kamikaze Pilot
Paula Scarpino as 50's Housewife
Mike Randleman as 60's Trucker
Justine Visone as Supermarket Cashier
Charles Carroll as Zapruder
Lee Holmes as Oswald
Jerry Gauny as Freak Cook
Tanner Giles as Bobby's Daughter
Rachel Ezra as Bobby's Girlfriend
Mpho Koaho as Kid Selling Guns
Chuck Kuespert as Bar Owner
Val Lauren as Third Shooter
Tom Fitzpatrick as Karaoke Man
Christian J. Fletcher as Stool Sample Courier
Rene Rivera as FBI Agent
Doc Duhame as Skipper
Rosario Dawson as Tweaker (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 148

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 4	0	7
5 to 8	0	6
9 to 12	4	13
13 to 16	0	51
17 to 20	0	1
21 to 24	0	34
25 to 28	3	12
29 to 32	10	61
33 to 36	0	37
37 to 40	0	10
41 to 44	0	89
45 to 48	0	25
49 to 52	0	3
53 to 56	0	7
57 to 60	26	34
61 to 64	0	53
65 to 68	0	11
69 to 72	3	3
73 to 76	10	8
77 to 80	23	51
81 to 84	0	70
85 to 88	26	40
89 to 92	8	25
93 to 96	0	42
97 to 100	0	13
101 to 104	0	18
105 to 108	2	2
109 to 112	0	2
113 to 116	0	7
117 to 120	0	9
121 to 124	0	2
125 to 128	0	0
129 to 132	1	0
133 to 136	0	7
137 to 140	0	17
141 to 144	0	21
145 to 148	7	22

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.

NANCY: It ain't right TERESA: You think? NANCY: Something's off. TERESA: We can do better.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 13 are women's.

123 lines from women, 813 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 25 men in the cast. 4 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 20 of 975. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 235 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (897), men 90% (7,825). Women have 13% 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

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: D.J. Caruso (man)
Written by: Tony Gayton (man)
Produced by: Frank Darabont (man), Butch Robinson (gender not listed), Ken Aguado (gender not listed), Eriq La Salle (man)
Shot by: Amir Mokri (man)
Edited by: Jim Page (man)
Music by: Thomas Newman (man)
Production design by: Tom Southwell (man)
Costumes by: Karyn Wagner (woman)
Cast by: Deborah Aquila (woman)