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Fails the Bechdel test

Thirteen Days

2000. Directed by Roger Donaldson, written by David Self and Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    7 women characters. 3 of them speak.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

Poster for Thirteen Days

The film

In October, 1962, U-2 surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing nuclear weapons in Cuba. These weapons have the capability of wiping out most of the Eastern and Southern United States in minutes if they become operational. President John F. Kennedy and his advisors must come up with a plan of action against the Soviets. Kennedy is determined to show that he is strong enough to stand up to the threat, and the Pentagon advises U.S. military strikes against Cuba--which could lead the way to another U.S. invasion of the island. However, Kennedy is reluctant to follow through, because a U.S. invasion could cause the Soviets to retaliate in Europe. A nuclear showdown appears to be almost inevitable. Can it be prevented?

Released
12 Jan 2001
Genres
Drama, History, Thriller
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.3 / 10
Metascore
67 / 100
Awards
3 wins & 8 nominations
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Kenny 201 lines, man
  2. The President 157 lines, man
  3. Bobby 93 lines, man
  4. Mcnamara 51 lines, man
  5. General Taylor 32 lines, man
  6. Ecker 27 lines, man
  7. Bundy 26 lines, man
  8. Mccone 24 lines, man
  9. Rusk 22 lines, man
  10. Adlai 18 lines, man
Full cast, 87 people
  • Kevin Costner as Kenneth O'Donnell
  • Bruce Greenwood as John F. Kennedy
  • Steven Culp as Robert F. Kennedy
  • Dylan Baker as Robert McNamara
  • Michael Fairman as Adlai Stevenson
  • Henry Strozier as Dean Rusk
  • Frank Wood as McGeorge Bundy
  • Kevin Conway as Gen. Curtis LeMay
  • Tim Kelleher as Ted Sorensen
  • Len Cariou as Dean Acheson
  • Bill Smitrovich as Gen. Maxwell Taylor
  • Shawn Driscoll as U-2 Pilot
  • Drake Cook as Mark O'Donnell
  • Stephanie Romanov as Jacqueline Kennedy
  • Lucinda Jenney as Helen O'Donnell
  • Caitlin Wachs as Kathy O'Donnell
  • Jon Foster as Kenny O'Donnell, Jr.
  • Matthew Dunn as Kevin O'Donnell
  • Kevin O'Donnell as NPIC Photo Interpreter
  • Janet Coleman as Evelyn Lincoln
  • Bruce Thomas as Floyd
  • Dakin Matthews as Arthur Lundahl
  • Liz Sinclair as Kenny's Assistant #1
  • Colette O'Connell as Kenny's Assistant #2
  • Karen Ludwig as Operator Margaret
  • Audrey Rapoport as White House Operator #1
  • Marliese Schneider as White House Operator #2
  • Ed Lauter as Gen. Marshall Carter
  • Walter Adrian as Lyndon Johnson
  • James Karen as George Ball
  • Dan Ziskie as Gen. Walter 'Cam' Sweeney
  • Peter White as John McCone
  • Kelly Connell as Pierre Salinger
  • Olek Krupa as Andrei Gromyko
  • Elya Baskin as Anotoly Dobrinyn
  • Timothy Jerome as Journalist
  • Jack McGee as Richard J. Daley
  • Lamar Smith as Aide
  • John Aylward as Orville Dryfoos
  • Madison Mason as Adm. George Anderson
  • Vivien Straus as White House Aide
  • Christopher Lawford as Cmdr. William B. Ecker
  • David O'Donnell as Lt. Bruce Wilhemy
  • Gene Del Bianco as Petty Officer
  • Benjamin Koldyke as RF-8 Pilot
  • Daniel Vergara as OAS Secretary General José A. Mora
  • Ruben Moreno as Argentine Diplomat
  • Thomas Roberts as Sonar Operator
  • Sean Bergin as Chief Sonarman
  • Alan Francis Sullivan as Executive Officer of USS Pierce
  • Robert Munstis as Radio Room Operator #1
  • Michael Gaston as Captain of USS Pierce
  • Joseph Repoff as Radio Room Operator #2
  • J. Tucker Smith as Captain of USS Kennedy
  • Chris Henry Coffey as Officer of Destroyer
  • Oleg Vidov as Valerian Zorin
  • Radu Gavor as Romanian Delegate
  • Zitto Kazann as Chilean Delegate
  • Alex Veadov as Radio Room Operator #3
  • Jack Blessing as John Scali
  • Tom Everett as Walter Sheridan
  • Karl Makinen as Young FBI Agent
  • Boris Lee Krutonog as Alexander Fomin
  • Charles Esten as Maj. Rudolf Anderson
  • Charles Barrett as Air Force NCO
  • Darryl Smith as Football Coach
  • Allan Graf as Football Referee
  • Robert Miranda as RFK's Driver
  • Todd Sible as RFK's Staffer
  • Marya Kazakova as Soviet Woman
  • Cliff Fleming as Aerial Coordinator
  • Craig Hosking as Pilot
  • Michael R. Bowman as Aide to JFK (uncredited)
  • Greg Bronson as Secret Service Agent (uncredited)
  • Walter Cronkite as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • Ryder Davis as Boy Scout (uncredited)
  • Roger Ferreira as Army Lieutenant General (uncredited)
  • Armen Garo as Crewman on Freighter (uncredited)
  • Gilley Grey as Air Force Pilot (uncredited)
  • Phil Hawn as UN Administrator (uncredited)
  • Rick Kain as Carpenter (uncredited)
  • John F. Kennedy as Self (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • Steven Koller as White House Staff (uncredited)
  • Pramod Kumar as U Thant (uncredited)
  • Richard Rossi as Reporter (uncredited)
  • Larry Strauss as Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon (uncredited)
  • Brad Yoder as Sorensen's Assistant (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 269

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 638
7 to 1200
13 to 18010
19 to 24218
25 to 30030
31 to 36057
37 to 42017
43 to 48053
49 to 54030
55 to 60028
61 to 66019
67 to 7209
73 to 7807
79 to 8406
85 to 9006
91 to 96022
97 to 102127
103 to 10826
109 to 11408
115 to 120013
121 to 12605
127 to 132011
133 to 138012
139 to 144410
145 to 15006
151 to 15606
157 to 16209
163 to 168033
169 to 174040
175 to 180015
181 to 186015
187 to 19208
193 to 198023
199 to 204035
205 to 210033
211 to 216435
217 to 22209
223 to 22802
229 to 23400
235 to 240012
241 to 246034
247 to 252038
253 to 258123
259 to 264214
265 to 269025

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, 2 are women's.

19 lines from women, 827 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

7 women and 60 men in the cast. 3 women and 40 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 322 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (176), men 99% (13,658). Women have 2% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Roger Donaldson (man)
Written by
David Self (man)
Produced by
Peter O. Almond (man), Armyan Bernstein (man), Kevin Costner (man), Lope V. Juban Jr. (gender not listed)
Shot by
Andrzej Bartkowiak (man)
Edited by
Conrad Buff IV (man)
Music by
Trevor Jones (man)
Production design by
J. Dennis Washington (man)
Costumes by
Isis Mussenden (woman)
Cast by
Dianne Crittenden (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    3 women, 2 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 4 men

  • Art

    1 women, 1 men

  • Other crew

    0 women, 2 men

  • Directing

    1 women, 1 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Men: 49 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Men

Frank Wood 40, Dylan Baker 41, Bruce Greenwood 44, Tim Kelleher 44, Kevin Costner 45, Steven Culp 45, Kevin Conway 58, Len Cariou 61, Michael Fairman 66

Exhibit G: the money

It made 43% of what it cost.

Budget
$80 million
Box office
$34.6 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 269 scenes and 867 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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