Passes the Bechdel test
The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999. Directed by Anthony Minghella, written by Patricia Highsmith and Anthony Minghella.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 129. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
New York, late 1950s: The ambitious but penniless Tom Ripley scrapes by as best he can with odd jobs and petty scams. While working as a pianist, he is mistaken for a Princeton graduate by the wealthy businessman Herbert Greenleaf. Believing Tom to be a former classmate of his son Richard - known as Dickie - Greenleaf offers him a lucrative assignment: He is to persuade Dickie, who is enjoying the good life in Italy at his father's expense, to return to the U.S. Tom accepts the offer. In Monticello, he has no trouble tracking down Dickie and befriending him. Together with Dickie's girlfriend Marge, the men soon enjoy several carefree weeks. Marge, who is fed up with her lover's sexual escapades, also quickly comes to trust Tom, while he finds himself increasingly drawn to the capricious Dickie. When Freddie Miles, an old friend of Dickie's, joins them in Rome, tensions begin to arise between Tom and Dickie, eventually culminating in a heated argument during a boat trip. In the course of the altercation, Tom kills Dickie. He then covers his tracks and decides to assume the murdered man's identity. This marks the beginning of a risky all-or-nothing gamble for him.
- Released
- 25 Dec 1999
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 5 Oscars. 10 wins & 81 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ripley 322 lines, man
- Dickie 138 lines, man
- Marge 117 lines, woman
- Peter 74 lines, man
- Meredith 48 lines, woman
- Freddie 28 lines, man
- Roverini 28 lines, man
- Herbert Greenleaf 27 lines, man
- Verrecchia 12 lines, man
- Maccarron 10 lines, man
Full cast, 64 people
- Matt Damon as Tom Ripley
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood
- Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf
- Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles
- Jack Davenport as Peter Smith-Kingsley
- James Rebhorn as Herbert Greenleaf
- Sergio Rubini as Inspector Roverini
- Philip Baker Hall as Alvin MacCarron
- Celia Weston as Aunt Joan
- Fiorello as Fausto
- Stefania Rocca as Silvana
- Ivano Marescotti as Colonnello Verrecchia
- Anna Longhi as Signora Buffi
- Alessandro Fabrizi as Sergeant Baggio
- Lisa Eichhorn as Emily Greenleaf
- Gretchen Egolf as Fran
- Jack Willis as Greenleaf Chaffeur
- Frederick Alexander Bosche as Fran's Boyfriend
- Dario Bergesio as Police Officer
- Larry Kaplan as Uncle Ted
- Claire Hardwick as Gucci Assistant
- Antonio Prester as American Express Clerk
- Lorenzo Mancuso as Bus Driver
- Onofrio Mancuso as Priest
- Massimo Reale as Immigration Officer
- Emanuele Carucci Viterbi as American Express Clerk
- Caterina Deregibus as Dahlia
- Silvana Bosi as Ermelinda
- Gianfranco Barra as Desk Manager Aldo
- Renato Scarpa as Tailor
- Deirdre Lovejoy as Fighting Neighbor
- Brian Tarantina as Fighting Neighbor
- Guy Barker as Trumpet (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Bernardo Sassetti as Piano (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Perico Sambeat as Alto Sax (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Gene Calderazzo as Drums (Napoli Jazz Septet) mer
- Joseph Lepore as Double Bass (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Rosario Giuliuni as Tenor Sax (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Eddy Palerno as Electric Guitar (Napoli Jazz Septet)
- Byron Wallen as Cornet (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Pete King as Alto Sax (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Clark Tracey as Drums (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Jean Toussaint as Tenor Sax (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Geoff Gascoyne as Bass (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Carlo Negroni as Piano (San Remo Jazz Sextet)
- Giuseppe Fiorello as Silvana's Fiancé
- Marco Quaglia as Silvana's Brother
- Alessandra Vanzi as Silvana's Mother
- Marco Rossi as Photographer
- Roberto Valentini as Onegin (Eugene Onegin Player)
- Francesco Bovino as Lensky (Eugene Onegin Player)
- Stefano Canettieri as Zaretsky (Eugene Onegin Player)
- Marco Foti as Guillot (Eugene Onegin Player)
- Ludovica Tinghi as Fausto's Fiancée
- Nicola Pannelli as Dinelli's Cafe Waiter
- Paolo Calabresi as Customs Officer
- Pietro Ragusa as Record Store Owner
- Simone Empler as Boy Singer
- Gianluca Secci as Policeman
- Manuel Ruffini as Policeman
- Pierpaolo Lovino as Policeman
- Roberto Di Palma as San Remo Hotel Desk Clerk
- Dominic Fumusa as Italian Boy in Rome (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 129
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 | 6 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 18 | 11 | 7 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 5 | 22 |
| 25 to 27 | 16 | 48 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 9 |
| 31 to 33 | 11 | 25 |
| 34 to 36 | 7 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 20 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 16 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 22 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 12 |
| 49 to 51 | 7 | 14 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 14 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 28 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 28 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 8 | 9 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 9 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 13 | 25 |
| 82 to 84 | 21 | 18 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 30 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 14 |
| 94 to 96 | 5 | 5 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 12 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 34 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 16 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 42 |
| 112 to 114 | 13 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 7 | 32 |
| 118 to 120 | 13 | 19 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 23 |
| 124 to 126 | 3 | 14 |
| 127 to 129 | 11 | 34 |
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.
EMILY GREENLEAF: I hope you'll come and see us... FRAN: That's very kind. EMILY GREENLEAF: Both of you...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.
183 lines from women, 646 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 26 men in the cast. 8 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 838.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 70 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 20% of the words (2,021), men 80% (7,911). Women have 22% 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
4
Two men
65
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Anthony Minghella (man)
- Written by
- Anthony Minghella (man)
- From the novel by
- Patricia Highsmith (woman)
- Produced by
- William Horberg (man), Tom Sternberg (man)
- Shot by
- John Seale (man)
- Edited by
- Walter Murch (man)
- Music by
- Gabriel Yared (man)
- Production design by
- Roy Walker (man)
- Costumes by
- Ann Roth (woman), Gary Jones (man)
- Cast by
- David Rubin (man), Shaila Rubin (woman), Sarah Beardsall (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 10 men
-
Production
4 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Gwyneth Paltrow 27, Cate Blanchett 30, Celia Weston 48
Men
Jude Law 26, Jack Davenport 26, Matt Damon 29, Philip Seymour Hoffman 32, Sergio Rubini 40, James Rebhorn 51, Philip Baker Hall 68
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $129 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 838 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
