Passes the Bechdel test

The Ugly Truth

Name: The Ugly Truth
Released: 2009

2009. Directed by Robert Luketic, written by Nicole Eastman and Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
33 women characters. 13 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 133.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

A romantically challenged morning show producer is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.

Released: 24 Jul 2009
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 28 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Abby 402 lines, woman
Mike 319 lines, man
Colin 73 lines, man
Stuart 35 lines, man
Joy 31 lines, woman
Jonah 20 lines, man
Jim 16 lines, man
Georgia 13 lines, woman
Elizabeth 12 lines, woman
Larry 12 lines, man

Full cast, 73 people

Katherine Heigl as Abby Richter
Gerard Butler as Mike Chadway
Eric Winter as Colin Anderson
Nick Searcy as Stuart
Bree Turner as Joy
John Michael Higgins as Larry Freeman
Kevin Connolly as Jim Ryan
Cheryl Hines as Georgia Bordeney
Bonnie Somerville as Elizabeth Chadway
Jesse D. Goins as Cliff
Noah Matthews as Jonah
John Sloman as Bob
Yvette Nicole Brown as Dori Coleman
Nate Corddry as Josh
Allen Maldonado as Duane
Steve Little as Steve
Dan Callahan as Rick
Tess Parker as Bambi
Arielle Vandenberg as Candi
Rocco DiSpirito as Guest Chef
Valente Rodriguez as Javier
Jamison Yang as KPQU Big Wig
Blake Robbins as KPQU Big Wig
Adam J. Harrington as Jack Magnum
J. Claude Deering as Drunk Guy
Alexis Krause as Cute Brunette
Craig Ferguson as Craig Ferguson
Jade Marx-Berti as Hostess
Mimi Michaels as Female Fan
Earl Carroll as Security Guard
Marc D. Wilson as Bell Man
Jeff Newburg as KPQU Production Assistant
Ryan Surratt as Bartender
Vicki Lewis as Saleswoman
Yolanda Pecoraro as Sexy Woman
Brooke Stone as Karen
Stephanie Mace as TV Production Assistant
Ashley Ausburn as Girl on Bike (uncredited)
Kevin Bangos as Stagehand (uncredited)
Melinda Bennett as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
April Betts as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Skyler Caleb as Station Employee (uncredited)
Adam Clark as Cliff (uncredited)
Sandra Daubert as Mike's Mom (uncredited)
Sabrina Diaz as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Kim Donovan as Woman on Bike (uncredited)
Christina Gabrielle as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Steven Galarce as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Jerald Garner as Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Lejla Hadzimuratovic as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Justin Rodgers Hall as Justin Rodgers Hall (uncredited)
Stephen Hansen as Devil's Baseball Hero (uncredited)
James Howarth as Date (uncredited)
Alexandra Nicole Hulme as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Courtney Kocak as Disgusted Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Bruna Matsin as Production Manager (uncredited)
Tina Mayer as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Taylor McCluskey as Station Employee (uncredited)
Erin Micklow as Trashy Redhead (uncredited)
Bob Morrisey as Harold (uncredited)
Barnett O'Hara as Bar patron (uncredited)
Shanna Olson as Beautiful Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Sandra Plazinic as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Calo Rodriguez as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Ashton Shane as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Anthony Simone as Day Player (uncredited)
Rich Skidmore as Announcer (uncredited)
Chris Spinelli as Park Pedestrian (uncredited)
Holly Weber as Chef Megan (uncredited)
Tracy Weisert as Stage Manager (uncredited)
Tamara Witmer as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Carolina Zaballa as Salsa Dancer (uncredited)
Tom Virtue as Balloon Pilot

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 133

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	1
4 to 6	12	10
7 to 9	15	5
10 to 12	15	14
13 to 15	11	4
16 to 18	0	7
19 to 21	18	20
22 to 24	27	24
25 to 27	19	21
28 to 30	20	19
31 to 33	9	8
34 to 36	7	1
37 to 39	17	15
40 to 42	14	7
43 to 45	23	21
46 to 48	19	22
49 to 51	10	12
52 to 54	3	4
55 to 57	43	55
58 to 60	26	45
61 to 63	3	1
64 to 66	8	11
67 to 69	15	21
70 to 72	1	9
73 to 75	1	4
76 to 78	12	11
79 to 81	12	13
82 to 84	4	2
85 to 87	9	15
88 to 90	14	13
91 to 93	19	15
94 to 96	15	19
97 to 99	5	3
100 to 102	5	16
103 to 105	5	12
106 to 108	2	4
109 to 111	2	2
112 to 114	2	1
115 to 117	2	3
118 to 120	4	5
121 to 123	7	11
124 to 126	6	8
127 to 129	4	5
130 to 132	2	3
133 to 133	6	7

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.

JOY: How did the date go? ABBY: I ended up pantsless in a parking lot. JOY: That's awesome!

ABBY: I am not ugly! JOY: Is that you? ABBY: What?! No!

GEORGIA: I hope mine do... ABBY: Yes, the city gets treated to flower-vagina metaphors. Georgia O'Keefe would be so pleased.

ABBY: Unless the NRA is paying your mortgage this month, I say lose the fucking gun. JOY: And we're live in -- five, four, three, two --

ABBY: That is not true. JOY: Well, kinda true.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.

479 lines from women, 529 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

33 women and 32 men in the cast. 13 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,040. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 43% of the words (4,629), men 57% (6,141). Women have 48% 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

9 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Luketic (man)
Written by: Karen McCullah (woman), Nicole Eastman (woman)
Produced by: Gary Lucchesi (man), Deborah Jelin Newmyer (woman), Kimberly di Bonaventura (gender not listed), Steven Reuther (man), Tom Rosenberg (man)
Shot by: Russell Carpenter (man)
Edited by: Lisa Zeno Churgin (woman)
Music by: Aaron Zigman (man)
Production design by: Missy Stewart (woman)
Costumes by: Betsy Heimann (woman)
Cast by: Jennifer L. Smith (woman), Deborah Aquila (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)