Passes the Bechdel test
The War of the Roses
1989. Directed by Danny DeVito, written by Warren Adler and Michael Leeson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 218. -
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
Oliver and Barbara Rose live happily as a married couple--until she starts to imagine what life would be like without him and likes what she sees. They both want to stay in the house, so they begin a campaign to force each other to leave. In the middle of their fighting is D'Amato, the divorce lawyer, who gets to see how far each will go to get rid of the other, and boy, do they go far.
- Released
- 08 Dec 1989
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 80 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 2 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jonathan 307 lines, man
- Barbara 225 lines, woman
- Susan 78 lines, woman
- Eve 30 lines
- Josh 24 lines, man
- Gary 17 lines
- Thurmont 16 lines, man
- Larrabee 9 lines, man
- Auctioneer 7 lines, man
- Constance 7 lines
Full cast, 57 people
- Michael Douglas as Oliver Rose
- Kathleen Turner as Barbara Rose
- Danny DeVito as Gavin D'Amato
- Marianne Sägebrecht as Susan
- Sean Astin as Josh at 17
- Heather Fairfield as Carolyn at 17
- G.D. Spradlin as Harry Thurmont
- Peter Donat as Jason Larrabee
- Dan Castellaneta as Man in Chair
- Gloria Cromwell as Mrs. Marshall
- Harlan Arnold as Mr. Dell
- Mary Fogarty as Mrs. Dell
- Rika Hofmann as Elke
- Patricia Allison as Maureen
- Peter Brocco as Elderly Mourner
- Philip Perlman as Bidder at Auction
- Susan Isaacs as Auctioneer's Assistant
- Trenton Teigen as Josh at 10
- Bethany McKinney as Carolyn at 10
- Shirley Mitchell as Mrs. Dewitt
- Ellen Crawford as Nurse
- Michael Adler as Dr. Hillerman
- Lisa Howard as Nurse
- Jeff Thomas as Orderly
- Jacqueline Cassell as Gavin's Secretary
- Vickilyn Reynolds as Nancy
- Eunice Suarez as Latin Woman
- Julia Elliott as Latin Assistant
- Tony Crane as Teenage Boy
- Ryan Wickers as Josh at 3
- Shaun Wickers as Josh at 3
- Catherine Donohue as Carolyn at 3
- Mary Donohue as Carolyn at 3
- Sue Palka as Anchorwoman
- Morris Jones as Anchorman
- Popeye as Benny
- Tyler as Kitty Kitty
- Roy Brocksmith as Mr. Fisk
- Peter Hansen as Mr. Marshall
- Robert Harper as Heath
- Prince Hughes as Bleeding Man
- Danitra Vance as Manicurist Trainee
- David Wohl as Dr. Gordon
- Raye Birk as Auctioneer (uncredited)
- Robin Blake as Dinner Party Guest (uncredited)
- Marilyn Brandt as Woman at Law Firm (uncredited)
- Norman Brenner as Mourner (uncredited)
- Bob Courts as Dinner Party Guest (uncredited)
- Gene Cross as Auction Bidder (uncredited)
- Hal Donahue as Gentlemen's Club Patron (uncredited)
- Peter Eastman as Lawyer in Waiting Area (uncredited)
- Berl Erdahl as Gentlemen's Club Patron (uncredited)
- Fritz Hess as Christmas Caroler (uncredited)
- Virginia Kennedy as Christmas Caroler (uncredited)
- Al Kroft as Gentlemen's Club Patron (uncredited)
- Tom Myer as Gentlemen's Club Waiter (uncredited)
- Ken Norton as Gentlemen's Club Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 218
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 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 to 10 | 10 | 15 |
| 11 to 15 | 16 | 14 |
| 16 to 20 | 17 | 10 |
| 21 to 25 | 11 | 11 |
| 26 to 30 | 15 | 9 |
| 31 to 35 | 11 | 15 |
| 36 to 40 | 8 | 2 |
| 41 to 45 | 7 | 8 |
| 46 to 50 | 17 | 41 |
| 51 to 55 | 7 | 8 |
| 56 to 60 | 8 | 10 |
| 61 to 65 | 10 | 13 |
| 66 to 70 | 19 | 17 |
| 71 to 75 | 5 | 39 |
| 76 to 80 | 6 | 7 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 4 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 10 |
| 91 to 95 | 7 | 14 |
| 96 to 100 | 10 | 12 |
| 101 to 105 | 8 | 3 |
| 106 to 110 | 11 | 4 |
| 111 to 115 | 14 | 9 |
| 116 to 120 | 9 | 10 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 0 |
| 126 to 130 | 7 | 3 |
| 131 to 135 | 11 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 3 | 8 |
| 141 to 145 | 7 | 11 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 1 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 0 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 1 |
| 161 to 165 | 9 | 18 |
| 166 to 170 | 5 | 6 |
| 171 to 175 | 8 | 8 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 2 |
| 181 to 185 | 22 | 21 |
| 186 to 190 | 1 | 0 |
| 191 to 195 | 4 | 5 |
| 196 to 200 | 1 | 0 |
| 201 to 205 | 1 | 1 |
| 206 to 210 | 7 | 6 |
| 211 to 215 | 3 | 5 |
| 216 to 218 | 2 | 3 |
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.
BARBARA: Please don't turn this into a contest of wills-- COOK'S ASSISTANT: It's bad karma to welsh on a bet, Constance.
SUSAN: Oh, a pointer here and there, not really worth a mention-- May I have a tiny bit more wine, please? BARBARA: You'll never guess who else has some news. I'm officially a business. Banquets by Barbara. Tomorrow I have a meeting about catering a party-…
BARBARA: If you were having more than thirty guests I'd suggest a buffet, but a sit down lunch is more elegant. ASSISTANT: Perdonme, Senora. La Senora Rose ha recibido una llamada urgente.
SUSAN: My, this is really--I haven't had a Christmas like this since-- ever. BARBARA: It"s a short. I said something was wrong with the lights last year--I don"t think we should--
SUSAN: Nothing for you either, missus? BARBARA: I'm going.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
326 lines from women, 387 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 20 men in the cast. 10 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 821.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 19 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 48% of the words (4,285), men 52% (4,716). Women have 46% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
13
Two men
18
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Danny DeVito (man)
- Written by
- Michael J. Leeson (man)
- From the novel by
- Warren Adler (man)
- Produced by
- James L. Brooks (man), Arnon Milchan (man)
- Shot by
- Stephen H. Burum (man)
- Edited by
- Lynzee Klingman (woman)
- Music by
- David Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Ida Random (woman)
- Costumes by
- Gloria Gresham (woman)
- Cast by
- David Rubin (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 11 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kathleen Turner 35, Marianne Sägebrecht 44
Men
Sean Astin 18, Dan Castellaneta 32, Michael Douglas 45, Danny DeVito 45, Peter Donat 61, G.D. Spradlin 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $26 million
- Box office
- $160 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 218 scenes and 821 lines of dialogue. How the test works
