Passes the Bechdel test
The Wedding Singer
1998. Directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 84. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Robbie Hart is singing the hits of the 1980s at weddings and other celebrations. He also can keep the party going in good spirit, he knows what to say and when to say it. Julia is a waitress at the events where Robbie performs. When both of them find someone to marry and prepare for their weddings, it becomes clear that they've chosen wrong partners.
- Released
- 13 Feb 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Music, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Robbie 309 lines, man
- Julia 189 lines, woman
- Holly 68 lines, woman
- Lawrence 62 lines, man
- Glen 50 lines
- Rosie 35 lines, woman
- Linda 30 lines, woman
- Angie 12 lines, woman
- Andy 11 lines, man
- Stranger 11 lines
Full cast, 31 people
- Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart
- Drew Barrymore as Julia Sullivan
- Christine Taylor as Holly Sullivan
- Allen Covert as Sammy
- Matthew Glave as Glenn Gulia
- Ellen Albertini Dow as Rosie
- Angela Featherstone as Linda
- Alexis Arquette as George
- Christina Pickles as Angie Sullivan
- Jodi Thelen as Kate
- Frank Sivero as Andy
- Patrick McTavish as Tyler
- Gemini Barnett as Petey
- Billy Idol as Himself
- Kevin Nealon as Mr. Simms
- Carmen Filpi as Old Man in Bar
- Robert Smigel as Andre
- Todd Hurst as Drunk Teenager
- Peter Dante as David's Friend
- Jimmy Karz as Studliest Kid at Bar Mitzvah
- Tim Herlihy as Rudy (the Bartender)
- Angela Paton as Faye
- Paul Thiele as Harold Veltri
- Phyllis Alia as Harold's Fiancee
- Andrew Shaifer as Flight Attendant #2
- Maree Cheatham as Nice Lady on Plane
- Steven Brill as Glenn’s Friend Jason
- Steve Buscemi as David 'Dave' Veltri (uncredited)
- Jon Lovitz as Jimmie Moore (uncredited)
- Brian Posehn as Man at Table #9 (uncredited)
- Michael Shuman as Bar Mitzvah Boy
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 84
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 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 to 4 | 13 | 16 |
| 5 to 6 | 14 | 16 |
| 7 to 8 | 15 | 29 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 12 | 18 | 6 |
| 13 to 14 | 4 | 5 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 18 | 3 | 17 |
| 19 to 20 | 12 | 8 |
| 21 to 22 | 10 | 37 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 7 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 7 |
| 27 to 28 | 25 | 25 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 10 |
| 33 to 34 | 13 | 21 |
| 35 to 36 | 1 | 0 |
| 37 to 38 | 5 | 0 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 5 |
| 43 to 44 | 14 | 16 |
| 45 to 46 | 35 | 12 |
| 47 to 48 | 30 | 18 |
| 49 to 50 | 16 | 13 |
| 51 to 52 | 28 | 0 |
| 53 to 54 | 1 | 4 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 2 |
| 57 to 58 | 17 | 22 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 19 |
| 61 to 62 | 12 | 5 |
| 63 to 64 | 20 | 12 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 6 |
| 67 to 68 | 15 | 4 |
| 69 to 70 | 7 | 8 |
| 71 to 72 | 10 | 0 |
| 73 to 74 | 2 | 10 |
| 75 to 76 | 1 | 6 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 1 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 1 |
| 83 to 84 | 1 | 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.
ANGIE: Julia ... ! JULIA: Oh, I gotta go. Thanks for comming you two. And for thinking of helping. You're sweet.
HOLLY: Not porno tongues .... JULIA: (interrupts} Soft mouth, right?
JULIA: I've heard so much about you. ROSIE: Well, no wonder you"ve been in a good mood lately.
JULIA: Could you? I love T.S. Elliot. HOLLY: Me too.
JULIA: Holly? HOLLY: Yeh, baby? JULIA: I think I have to go to the ladies. Could you come with me please? HOLLY: Scuze us. We'll be right back.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
347 lines from women, 413 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 19 men in the cast. 6 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 16 of 889.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 34 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 44% of the words (4,842), men 56% (6,142). Women have 46% 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
21
Two men
26
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Frank Coraci (man)
- Written by
- Tim Herlihy (man)
- Produced by
- Jack Giarraputo (man), Robert Simonds (man)
- Shot by
- Tim Suhrstedt (man)
- Edited by
- Tom Lewis (man)
- Music by
- Teddy Castellucci (man)
- Production design by
- Perry Andelin Blake (man)
- Costumes by
- Mona May (woman)
- Cast by
- Roger Mussenden (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 11 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Drew Barrymore 22, Christine Taylor 26, Alexis Arquette 28, Angela Featherstone 32, Jodi Thelen 35, Christina Pickles 62, Ellen Albertini Dow 84
Men
Adam Sandler 31, Allen Covert 33, Matthew Glave 34
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $123 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 84 scenes and 889 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
