Fails the Bechdel test
The Tender Bar
2022. Directed by George Clooney, written by William Monahan and J.R. Moehringer.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
A boy (Jr.) seeks a replacement for his father, who disappeared shortly after his birth, and bonds with his uncle Charlie and the patrons at a bar in Long Island. Uncle Charlie works as a bartender there and knows all of the staff and regular patrons. He is a charismatic individual and all of his friends are eager to initiate Jr. into their rituals. Jr. listens closely to the stories of these men and relies on these stories for guidance on how to live.
- Released
- 07 Jan 2022
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jr 270 lines, man
- Uncle Charlie 231 lines, man
- Mom 82 lines, woman
- Young Jr 76 lines, man
- The Voice 75 lines, man
- Sidney 58 lines, woman
- Bayard 55 lines, man
- Priest 24 lines, man
- Bobo 16 lines, man
- Grampa 15 lines, man
Full cast, 38 people
- Ben Affleck as Charlie Maguire
- Tye Sheridan as JR Maguire
- Daniel Ranieri as Young JR Maguire
- Lily Rabe as Dorothy Maguire
- Christopher Lloyd as Grandpa Maguire
- Max Martini as The Voice, JR's father
- Rhenzy Feliz as Wesley
- Briana Middleton as Sidney
- Max Casella as Chief
- Sondra James as Grandma Maguire
- Michael Braun as Bobo
- Matthew Delamater as Joey D
- Ivan Leung as Jimmy
- Danielle Ranieri as Aunt Ruth
- Kate Avallone as Kathy
- Mark Boyett as Sidney's Dad
- Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Sidney's Mom
- Ezra Knight as Professor Van Dyke
- David Carl as School Psychologist
- Shannon Collis as Pat
- Keira Jo Lassor as Kathy's Daughter
- Jennifer C. Johnson as Mrs. Williams
- Michael Steven Costello as NYT Editor
- Kate Middleton as NYT Personnel Woman
- Jackson Damon as NYT Copyboy
- Caroline Bergwall as NYT Copygirl
- Daniel Washington as Officer James
- Jenny Eagan as Chief's Wife
- Steve Gagliastro as Other Customer
- Annabella Valle as Aunt Ruth's Kid #1
- Clara Kelly as Aunt Ruth's Kid #2
- Meara Mahoney Gross as Aunt Ruth's Kid #3
- Ron Livingston as Future JR Maguire (voice only)
- Jack Baumrind as Kid in Classroom (uncredited)
- Julia Bechler as Dickens Bar Regular (uncredited)
- Keith R. Beck as Yale Student (uncredited)
- Alissa Bourne as Dickens Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Jack Damon as NYT Copyboy
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 101
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 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 39 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 to 21 | 9 | 43 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 34 |
| 25 to 27 | 6 | 28 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 28 |
| 31 to 33 | 15 | 19 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 14 |
| 37 to 39 | 12 | 20 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 23 |
| 43 to 45 | 8 | 11 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 16 |
| 49 to 51 | 6 | 34 |
| 52 to 54 | 5 | 32 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 81 |
| 58 to 60 | 20 | 27 |
| 61 to 63 | 12 | 34 |
| 64 to 66 | 11 | 8 |
| 67 to 69 | 17 | 20 |
| 70 to 72 | 7 | 36 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 52 |
| 76 to 78 | 12 | 12 |
| 79 to 81 | 11 | 37 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 30 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 41 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 25 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 33 |
| 94 to 96 | 12 | 33 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 7 |
| 100 to 101 | 0 | 0 |
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, 19 are women's.
194 lines from women, 848 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
15 women and 18 men in the cast. 4 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 1,061.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 124 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (1,528), men 87% (9,994). Women have 19% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
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
61
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 45% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- George Clooney (man)
- Written by
- William Monahan (man)
- Produced by
- George Clooney (man), Grant Heslov (man), Ted Hope (man)
- Shot by
- Martin Ruhe (man)
- Edited by
- Tanya Swerling (woman)
- Music by
- Dara Taylor (woman)
- Production design by
- Kalina Ivanov (woman)
- Costumes by
- Jenny Eagan (woman)
- Cast by
- Rachel Tenner (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 3 men
-
Art
2 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 61 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lily Rabe 39, Sondra James 82
Men
Rhenzy Feliz 24, Tye Sheridan 25, Ben Affleck 49, Max Martini 52, Max Casella 54, Christopher Lloyd 83
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 101 scenes and 1,061 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
