Passes the Bechdel test

The Two Jakes

Name: The Two Jakes
Released: 1990

1990. Directed by Jack Nicholson, written by Robert Towne.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 74.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

Private detective Jake Gittes has a new client. Jake Berman believes his wife is cheating on him and wants Gittes and his associates to catch her in the act. Everything appears to be going according to plan until Berman shoots the man dead. It should be an open-and-shut case but now Gittes is drawn into a complex web that involves far more than infidelity.

Released: 10 Aug 1990
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.1 / 10
Metascore: 56 / 100
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Gittes 262 lines, man
Berman 95 lines, man
Kitty 59 lines, woman
Lillian 45 lines, woman
Cotton 28 lines, man
Mickey 28 lines, man
Otley 25 lines, man
Judge Detmer 24 lines
Escobar 23 lines, man
Duffy 18 lines

Full cast, 57 people

Jack Nicholson as J.J. "Jake" Gittes
Harvey Keitel as Julius "Jake" Berman
Meg Tilly as Kitty Berman
Madeleine Stowe as Lillian Bodine
Eli Wallach as Cotton Weinberger
Rubén Blades as Mickey Nice
Frederic Forrest as Chuck Newty
David Keith as Det. Lt. Loach
Richard Farnsworth as Earl Rawley
Tracey Walter as Tyrone Otley
Joe Mantell as Lawrence Walsh
James Hong as Kahn
Perry Lopez as Captain Lou Escobar
Jeff Morris as Tilton
Rebecca Broussard as Gladys
Paul A. DiCocco Jr. as Liberty Levine
John Hackett as Mark Bodine
Rosie Vela as Linda
Allan Warnick as Rippey
Susan Forristal as Delores
Will Tynan as Judge Dettmer
Van Dyke Parks as Francis Hannah
William Duffy as Desk Sergeant
Sue Carlton as Mattie Rawley
Don McGovern as Bartender
Luana Anders as Florist
Dean Hill as Cop with Parrot
Pia Grønning as Dr. Elsa Branchauer
John Herman Shaner as Saul
Michael Shaner as Benny
Lee Weaver as Caddy #1
Malek Abdul-Mansour as Caddy #2
Kenneth Cervi as Prowler
Annie Marshall as Client with Dog
Ian Thorpe as Errol Flynn Look-alike
Collette Northrop as Cigarette / Hat Check Girl
Patricia Durham as Clarissa
Randi Ingerman as Lana
Joy Wayman as Lady Asleep
Bob George as Bar Maitre D'
Suzanne Mitchell as The Redhead
Alan Chaffin as Bar Manager
Wyn Costello as Black Eye Woman
Lisa Croisette as Actress at Max Factor
Jessica Z. Diamond as Receptionist
Scott Flynn as Golf Advisor
Benard Ihgner as Singer at Green Parrot
Earl Palmer as Green Parrot Band
Simeon Pillich as Green Parrot Band
Herman Riley as Green Parrot Band
Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Mulwray (voice)
Tom Waits as Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
Paulie DiCocco as Liberty Levine (uncredited)
James Ent as Bailiff (uncredited)
Jeffery Thomas Johnson as Golfer (uncredited)
Dwight F. Lay as Man Getting Shoeshine (uncredited)
Tereza Rizzardi as Woman at Max Factor (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 74

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 2	0	17
3 to 4	1	18
5 to 6	0	31
7 to 8	0	0
9 to 10	0	0
11 to 12	17	41
13 to 14	5	16
15 to 16	0	2
17 to 18	3	22
19 to 20	0	0
21 to 22	0	0
23 to 24	0	22
25 to 26	0	15
27 to 28	0	0
29 to 30	3	21
31 to 32	0	2
33 to 34	0	37
35 to 36	2	1
37 to 38	25	48
39 to 40	7	17
41 to 42	0	0
43 to 44	0	48
45 to 46	0	14
47 to 48	14	19
49 to 50	0	11
51 to 52	0	30
53 to 54	0	9
55 to 56	0	0
57 to 58	0	1
59 to 60	2	42
61 to 62	19	16
63 to 64	0	31
65 to 66	0	15
67 to 68	0	0
69 to 70	0	0
71 to 72	0	0
73 to 74	14	13

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

KITTY: "prove--ut?' LILLIAN: - strike it rich - I know I can prove,’ she said ‘prove what?’ -

LINDA: Please don't bother. I can see you're hard at work. Don't stop for introductions don't stop for a thing. I simply wish to say I . never want… KITTY: God I'm sorry, we weren't doing a thing, I mean I was just sitting here, don't look at me like that -

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 17 are women's.

112 lines from women, 559 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

10 women and 24 men in the cast. 6 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 22 of 742. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 86 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 (1,350), men 85% (7,739). Women have 17% 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

1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Jack Nicholson (man)
Written by: Robert Towne (man)
Produced by: Jack Nicholson (man), Robert Evans (man), Harold Schneider (man)
Shot by: Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
Edited by: Anne Goursaud (woman)
Music by: Van Dyke Parks (man)
Production design by: Jeremy Railton (gender not listed), Richard Sawyer (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Wayne A. Finkelman (man)
Cast by: Terry Liebling (gender not listed)