Fails the Bechdel test
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
2013. Directed by Ben Stiller, written by Steve Conrad and James Thurber.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 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
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
The manager of the negative-assets sector of Life magazine, Walter Mitty, has been working for 16 years for the magazine and has a tedious life, not going anywhere but to and from work. He is an escapist, daydreaming into a fantasy world many times a day. Walter has a crush on recently-hired Cheryl Melhoff but he is too shy to invite her out and he is trying to contact her via online dating. The magazine is preparing to release its last printed edition and the loathsome manager of transition Ted Hendricks is preparing an inevitable downsizing over the next few days. Walter has been the liaison between the magazine and the mysterious independent photographer Sean O'Connell, who has sent to him a package of negatives and a wallet as a gift for his work. Sean also suggests to the senior management the use of negative 25 for the cover of the last edition. However, Walter cannot find the missing negative. Walter has no means to contact Sean and finds a clue that he might be in Greenland. He decides to travel to Greenland to track Sean down in the beginning of an unbelievable adventure.
- Released
- 25 Dec 2013
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 54 / 100
- Awards
- 6 wins & 19 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Walter 479 lines, man
- Eharmony Counselor 69 lines, man
- Cheryl 49 lines, woman
- Ted Hendricks 43 lines, man
- Edna 37 lines, woman
- Sean 32 lines, man
- Odessa 27 lines, woman
- Mark Chatham 21 lines, man
- Cab Driver 16 lines
- Pilot 13 lines, man
Full cast, 106 people
- Ben Stiller as Walter Mitty
- Kristen Wiig as Cheryl Melhoff
- Sean Penn as Sean O'Connell
- Shirley MacLaine as Edna Mitty
- Adam Scott as Ted Hendricks
- Kathryn Hahn as Odessa Mitty
- Patton Oswalt as Todd Maher
- Adrian Martinez as Hernando
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Helicopter Pilot
- Gunnar Helgason as Hotel Keeper
- Terence Bernie Hines as Gary Mannheim
- Alex Anfanger as Ted's Toner Box Associate
- Gary Wilmes as Walter's Dad
- Jon Daly as Tim Naughton
- Gurdeep Singh as Cab Driver
- Paul Fitzgerald as Don Proctor
- Grace Rex as Cheryl's Co-Worker
- Amanda Naughton as Female Editor
- Nolan Carley as Western Union Employee
- Joey Slotnick as Retirement Home Administrator
- Marcus Antturi as Rich Melhoff
- Amy Stiller as Rich's Friend's Mom
- Rosamund Gundmundsdottir as Ticket Agent
- Stuart Cornfeld as Greeland Air Passenger
- Maariu Olsen as Rental Car Agent
- Makka Kleist as Bartender
- Þórhallur Sigurðsson as Trawler Captain
- Ari Matthíasson as Trawler 1st Mate
- Hendrikus Schraven as Trawler 2nd Mate
- Finni Johannsson as Trawler 3rd Mate
- Eysteinn Gardarsson as Zodiac Shark Resucer
- José Alcántara as Chilean Sailor
- Rodrigo Espinosa as Chilean Sailor
- Seba Alón as Chilean Sailor
- Miguel Baez-Olavarria as Chilean Sailor
- Daniel Orellana as Chilean Sailor
- Antonio Molina as Chilean Sailor
- Martin Lagos as Chilean Sailor
- Andres Quezada as Chilean Sailor
- Valur Snaer Hilmarsson as Skateboard Kid #1
- Eythor Atli Hilmarsson as Skateboard Kid #2
- Birgir Jarl Runarsson as Skateboard Kid #3
- Kai Lennox as Phil Melhoff
- Conan O'Brien as Conan O'Brien
- Andy Richter as Andy Richter
- Anthony Desio as Mover
- Losang Thonden as Older Rajqawee
- Rinjee Sherpa as Younger Rajqawee
- Haroon Nawabi as Afghan Warlord
- Stefan B. Onundarson as Afghan
- Mohammed Arif Baser as Afghan
- Mohammed Pancherri as Afghan
- Ehsan Nawroz as Afghan
- Steve Assil as Afghan
- Ang Babu Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Ang Gelu Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Dawa Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Ngima T. Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Nuri Chhiri Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Phurba Tashi Sherpa as Soccer Playing Sherpa
- Walter Mudu as TSA Skeleton #1
- Liz Mikel as TSA Skeleton #2
- Brian Scott McFadden as TSA Officer #1
- Dion Graham as TSA Officer #2
- Richard DeDomenico as Piano Wholesaler
- Matt Levin as Board Meeting Guy
- Craig Castaldo as News Stand Guy
- George Aloi as Life Magazine Employee (uncredited)
- Paul Bosche as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Jerome Brooks Jr. as Business Man (uncredited)
- Brady Bryson as Boy in Park (uncredited)
- Greg Cipes as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Marmee Regine Cosico as NYC Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Jay Ferraro as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Gary Ferster as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Samantha Gelnaw as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Efraiem Hanna as Airline Ticket Agent (uncredited)
- Rosemary Howard as 1940s Winter Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Ilan Krigsfeld as Blue Collar Worker (uncredited)
- Alex Kruz as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Anna Kuchma as Business Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Dennis Lauricella as NYPD Officer (uncredited)
- Raymond Mamrak as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Jennifer Leigh Mann as Time Life Editor (uncredited)
- Ryan McBride as Movie Poster Boy (uncredited)
- Ryan Nicolls as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Hal Panchansky as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Roy Pollack as Time-Life Employee (uncredited)
- Wes Pope as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Lil Rhee as New Yorker (uncredited)
- Bennie Road as Construction Worker (uncredited)
- Shade Rupe as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Stephen Sapienza as Businessman (uncredited)
- Chloe Elaine Scharf as Businessman's Daughter (uncredited)
- Joshua Schubart as Mover (uncredited)
- Tara Strong as Airport Passenger (uncredited)
- Rob Tode as Cheryl's Neighbor (uncredited)
- Marco Torriani as Tourist (uncredited)
- Barbara Vincent as Businesswoman (uncredited)
- Hynden Walch as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Kelsey Wang as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Christopher Watts as Time Life Building Pedestrian (uncredited)
- William Henderson White as Time Life Employee (uncredited)
- Nicole Neuman as Rachel (uncredited)
- Dennis Rees as International Traveler (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 155
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 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 66 |
| 9 to 12 | 3 | 23 |
| 13 to 16 | 10 | 23 |
| 17 to 20 | 4 | 33 |
| 21 to 24 | 5 | 26 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 2 |
| 33 to 36 | 5 | 24 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 25 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 22 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 9 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 17 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 60 |
| 65 to 68 | 17 | 9 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 6 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 6 |
| 77 to 80 | 15 | 26 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 42 |
| 85 to 88 | 7 | 10 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 4 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 6 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 13 |
| 101 to 104 | 2 | 16 |
| 105 to 108 | 10 | 7 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 23 |
| 113 to 116 | 16 | 21 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 3 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 8 |
| 125 to 128 | 8 | 93 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 24 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 12 |
| 137 to 140 | 7 | 17 |
| 141 to 144 | 6 | 20 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 30 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 5 |
| 153 to 155 | 12 | 11 |
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, 15 are women's.
132 lines from women, 749 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 44 men in the cast. 4 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 85 of 1,010.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 188 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (1,241), men 85% (7,004).
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
0
Two men
31
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ben Stiller (man)
- Written by
- Steven Conrad (man)
- Produced by
- Ben Stiller (man), John Goldwyn (man), Samuel Goldwyn Jr. (man), Stuart Cornfeld (man)
- Shot by
- Stuart Dryburgh (man)
- Edited by
- Greg Hayden (man)
- Music by
- Theodore Shapiro (man)
- Production design by
- Jeff Mann (man)
- Costumes by
- Sarah Edwards (woman)
- Cast by
- Rachel Tenner (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
6 women, 31 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 15 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 12 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 5 men
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 53 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kristen Wiig 40, Kathryn Hahn 40, Shirley MacLaine 79
Men
Adam Scott 40, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson 40, Adrian Martinez 41, Patton Oswalt 44, Ben Stiller 48, Sean Penn 53
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $188 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 155 scenes and 1,010 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
