Fails the Bechdel test
The Thomas Crown Affair
1999. Directed by John McTiernan, written by Alan Trustman and Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 3 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Self-made billionaire Thomas Crown is bored of being able to buy everything he desires. Being irresistible to women, he also does not feel any challenge in that area. But there are a few things even he can't get, therefore Thomas Crown has a seldom hobby: He steals priceless masterpieces of Art. After the theft of a famous painting from Claude Monet, the only person suspecting Thomas Crown is Catherine Banning. Her job is to get the picture back, no matter how she accomplishes her mission. Unfortunately, Catherine gets involved too deeply with Thomas to keep a professional distance to the case. Fortunately, Thomas seems to fall for her, too.
- Released
- 06 Aug 1999
- Genres
- Crime, Romance, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Vivian 246 lines, woman
- Crown 184 lines, man
- Vincent 122 lines, man
- Paretti 11 lines, man
- Lenox 10 lines, man
- Proctor Mckinnley 9 lines, man
- Psychiatrist 9 lines, woman
- Nestor 8 lines, man
- Thomas Crown 7 lines, man
- Voice 6 lines
Full cast, 106 people
- Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown
- Rene Russo as Catherine Banning
- Denis Leary as Det. Michael McCann
- Frankie Faison as Det. Paretti
- Faye Dunaway as Psychiatrist
- Esther Cañadas as Anna Knudsen
- James Saito as Paul Cheng
- Michael Lombard as Proctor Bobby McKinley
- Fritz Weaver as John Reynolds (Golf Buddy)
- Charles Keating as Friedrich Golchan
- Mark Margolis as Heinrich Knutzhorn
- Ben Gazzara as Andrew Wallace
- Bill Ambrozy as Proctor
- Michael Bahr as Proctor
- Robert D. Novak as Proctor
- Joe H. Lamb as Proctor
- Mischa Hausserman as Crown's Driver (Jimmy)
- Daniel Oreskes as Petru
- Dominic Chianese Jr. as Dimetri
- Ritchie Coster as Janos
- Gregg Bello as Iggy
- John P. McCann as Senior Detective
- Gino Lucci as Freight Truck Driver
- George Christy as Senior Museum Guard
- Mike Danner as Forklift Operator
- James J. Archer as J.J. the Security Guard
- John Elsen as New York City Cop
- Robert Spillane as Crown Acquisitions Security Officer
- Daniel Jamal Gibson as Sam
- Cynthia Darlow as Crown's Secretary (Daria)
- Sherry Koftan as Crown Acquistions Employee
- Jane DeNoble as Crown Acquisitions Employee
- Gene Bozzi as Crown Acquisitions Employee
- Ryan Hecht as Crown Acquisitions Employee
- Paul Simon as Crown Acquisitons Employee
- Tom Tammi as Businessman
- Mark Zeisler as Bulldog
- Mark Zimmerman as Bulldog
- Daniel Southern as Crown Acquisitions Executive
- James Yaegashi as Crown Acquisitions Executive
- Ira Wheeler as Old Man
- David Adkins as Son
- John McKay as Company Lawyer
- Melissa Maxwell as Teacher
- Colleen Hamm as Schoolgirl
- Timothy Wheeler as Museum Security Tech
- John Thrall Bush as Museum Security Guard
- Dominic Marcus as Museum Security Guard
- Robert Lewis Stephenson as Museum Security Guard
- David Toney as Museum Security Guard
- Phillip Douglas as Museum Security Guard
- Jeffrey Dreisbach as Junior Proctor
- R.J. Remo as Smoking Kid
- Caleb Archer as Smoking Kid
- Dennis Creaghan as Jim Lenox (Museum Director)
- Randy Phillips as National Art Club Guest
- Gloria Barnes as National Art Club Guest
- Mimi Weddell as National Art Club Guest
- Pat Friedlander as National Art Club Guest
- Gary L. Catus as National Art Club Guest
- Jeremy Nagel as Crown's Caddy (Tommy)
- John C. Havens as Museum Operating Tech
- Annie Rose Murray as Woman Spectator
- Bill Tatum as Gentleman Yachtsman
- Teddy Coluca as Detective in Restaurant
- Michael Charles as Detective in Restaurant
- Orlando Carafa as Cipriani Waiter
- Ben Epps as Male Associate
- Kim D. Cannon as Cleaning Man
- Douglas Kahelemauna Nam as Cleaning Man
- Richard Russell Ramos as Art Inspector (Dr. Cornelius)
- John Seidman as Lab Technician (George French)
- Robert Ian Mackenzie as Jeweler
- Yusef Bulos as Second Jeweler
- Ray Virta as Museum Detective
- Thomas Michael Sullivan as Museum Special Police
- J. Paul Boehmer as Museum Detective
- Tony Cucci as Watching Cop
- Paul Geoffrey as Another Cop
- R.E. Rodgers as Uniform Cop
- Tom Bloom as Crown Imposter at Heliport
- Kim Craven as Ticket Agent
- Marion McCorry as Stewardess
- Sean Haberle as Ramp Manager
- Mikel Sarah Lambert as Wealthy Woman
- Angelo Fraboni as Featured Dancer at Black & White Ball
- Melanie LaPatin as Featured Dancer at Black & White Ball
- Jodi Ellen Melnick as Featured Dancer at Black & White Ball
- Tony Meredith as Featured Dancer at Black & White Ball
- Michael Terrace as Featured Dancer at Black & White Ball
- Simon Jones as Catherine's Accountant (voice) (uncredited)
- Jodi White as Assistant to Museum Director Mr. Lenox (uncredited)
- Timothy Klein as Officer Klein (uncredited)
- Steven E. Lawler as Uniform Cop (uncredited)
- Andy Redmond as Precinct Detective (uncredited)
- Charles Gemmill as Detective (uncredited)
- Norman Steiner as Detective (uncredited)
- Steve Bilich as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Josh Mowery as Businessman (uncredited)
- Diana Berry as Museum Patron (uncredited)
- Alberto Suarez as Museum Patron (uncredited)
- Mark A. Langston as Thief (uncredited)
- Stan Klimecko as Bowler Hat Decoy (uncredited)
- Daniel Maysen as Bowler Hat Decoy (uncredited)
- Victoria Rong as Model #2 (uncredited)
- Eliot Sash as Dancer at Black & White Ball (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 208
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 | 9 | 15 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 15 | 1 | 6 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 to 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 8 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 2 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 6 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 11 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 65 | 7 | 17 |
| 66 to 70 | 9 | 24 |
| 71 to 75 | 9 | 10 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 10 |
| 81 to 85 | 10 | 18 |
| 86 to 90 | 41 | 42 |
| 91 to 95 | 7 | 28 |
| 96 to 100 | 3 | 4 |
| 101 to 105 | 21 | 22 |
| 106 to 110 | 8 | 8 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 1 |
| 116 to 120 | 7 | 10 |
| 121 to 125 | 11 | 12 |
| 126 to 130 | 8 | 9 |
| 131 to 135 | 10 | 12 |
| 136 to 140 | 10 | 10 |
| 141 to 145 | 11 | 9 |
| 146 to 150 | 20 | 17 |
| 151 to 155 | 5 | 4 |
| 156 to 160 | 20 | 27 |
| 161 to 165 | 13 | 16 |
| 166 to 170 | 14 | 21 |
| 171 to 175 | 2 | 6 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 3 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 6 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 2 |
| 196 to 200 | 4 | 9 |
| 201 to 205 | 2 | 0 |
| 206 to 208 | 1 | 2 |
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, 38 are women's.
265 lines from women, 428 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 58 men in the cast. 3 women and 29 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 718.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 34% of the words (2,086), men 66% (3,977). Women have 38% 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
29
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John McTiernan (man)
- Written by
- Leslie Dixon (woman), Kurt Wimmer (man)
- Story by
- Alan Trustman (man)
- Produced by
- Beau St. Clair (woman), Pierce Brosnan (man)
- Shot by
- Tom Priestley Jr. (man)
- Edited by
- John Wright (man)
- Music by
- Bill Conti (man)
- Production design by
- Bruno Rubeo (man)
- Cast by
- Patricia McCorkle (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
5 women, 24 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 16 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 9 men, 17 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 11 men, 12 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 11 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 54 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Esther Cañadas 22, Rene Russo 45, Faye Dunaway 58
Men
Denis Leary 41, James Saito 44, Pierce Brosnan 46, Frankie Faison 50, Charles Keating 57, Michael Lombard 64, Fritz Weaver 73
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $48 million
- Box office
- $124 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 208 scenes and 718 lines of dialogue. How the test works
