Fails the Bechdel test
Three Kings
1999. Directed by David O. Russell, written by John Ridley and David O. Russell.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 1 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
A small group of adventurous American soldiers in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War are determined to steal a huge cache of gold reputed to be hidden somewhere near their desert base. Finding a map they believe will take them to the gold, they embark on a journey that leads to unexpected discoveries, enabling them to rise to a heroic challenge that drastically changes their lives.
- Released
- 01 Oct 1999
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- 8 wins & 19 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Archie Gates 272 lines, man
- Troy 229 lines, man
- Doc 118 lines
- Vig 112 lines, man
- Interrogator 66 lines, man
- General Horn 34 lines, man
- Bill Smithson 31 lines
- Imam 30 lines, man
- Walter 29 lines, man
- Captain Van Meter 20 lines, man
Full cast, 77 people
- George Clooney as Archie Gates
- Mark Wahlberg as Troy Barlow
- Ice Cube as Chief Elgin
- Spike Jonze as Conrad Vig
- Cliff Curtis as Amir Abdullah
- Nora Dunn as Adriana Cruz
- Jamie Kennedy as Walter Wogaman
- Saïd Taghmaoui as Captain Said
- Mykelti Williamson as Colonel Horn
- Holt McCallany as Captain Van Meter
- Judy Greer as Cathy Daitch
- Christopher Lohr as Teebaux
- Jon Sklaroff as Paco
- Liz Stauber as Debbie Barlow, Troy's Wife
- Marsha Horan as Amir's Wife
- Alia Shawkat as Amir's Daughter
- Ghanem Algarawi as Hairdressing Twin #2
- Jabir Algarawi as Hairdressing Twin #1
- Bonnie Afsary as Western Dressed Village Woman
- Jacqueline Abi-Ad as Traditional Village Woman
- Fadil Al-Badri as Deserter Leader
- Qaid Al-Nomani as Kaied
- Sayed Badreya as Iraqi Tank Major
- Magdi Rashwan as Iraqi Troop Carrier Major
- Ali Afshar as Iraqi First Kill Soldier
- Tank Jones as Berm Soldier / Truck Driver
- Patrick O'Neal Jones as Berm Soldier
- Shawn Pilot as Berm Soldier
- Brett Bassett as Berm Soldier
- Jim Gaffigan as Cuts Troy's Cuff Soldier
- Al Whiting as Camp Soldier / Truck Driver
- Brian Patterson as Camp Soldier / Truck Driver
- Scott Dillon as Camp Soldier
- Kwesi Okai Hazel as Camp Soldier
- Joseph Romanov as Camp Soldier
- Christopher B. Duncan as Camp Soldier
- Randy W. McCoy as Camp Soldier
- Mark Rhodes as Camp Soldier
- Scott Pearce as Camp Soldier
- Gary Parker as Civil Affairs Company Clerk
- Haidar Alatowa as Saudi Translator
- Salah Salea as Iraqi Soldier with Map
- Doug Jones as Dead Iraqi Soldier
- Farinaz Farrokh as Iraqi Civilian Mother with Baby
- Omar 'Freefly' Alhegelan as Lying Iraqi - Bunker #1
- Hassan Allawati as Friendly Iraqi - Bunker #1
- Sara Aziz as Pleading Civilian Woman
- A. Halim Mostafa as Iraqi Civilian Man
- Al Mustafa as Storeroom Captain - Bunker #2
- Anthony Batarse as Iraqi Interrogation Sergeant
- Mohamad Al-Jalahma as Iraqi Rifle Loader #1 - Bunker #2
- Mohammed Sharafi as Iraqi Rifle Loader #2 - Bunker #2
- Hillel Michael Shamam as Storeroom Guard - Bunker #2
- Joey Naber as Iraqi Radio Operator
- Basim Ridha as Black Robe Leader
- Peter Macdissi as Iraqi Republican Guard Lieutenant - Oasis Bunker
- Tony Shawkat as Iraqi Republican Guard Sergeant - Oasis Bunker
- Joseph Abi-Ad as Iraqi Republican Guard Sergeant - Oasis Bunker
- Fahd Al-Ujaimy as Troy's Interrogation Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Derick Qaqish as Troy's Interrogation Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Hassan Bach-Agha as Troy's Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Fadi Sitto as Troy's Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Ali Alkindi as Deserter #1
- Abdullah Al-Dawalem as Deserter #2
- Rick Mendoza as Deserter #3
- Jassim Al-Khazraji as Republican Guard on Roof - Oasis Bunker
- Haider Alkindi as Fleeing Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Kalid Mustafa as Fleeing Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Ghazwyn Ramlawi as Fleeing Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Raad Thomasian as Fleeing Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Wessam Saleh as Fleeing Republican Guard - Oasis Bunker
- Jay Giannone as Fleeing Republican Guard / Sniper - Oasis Bunker
- Sam Hassan as Fleeing Republican Guard / Sniper - Oasis Bunker
- Brian Bosworth as Action Star
- Donte Delila as Iraqi Child
- Dylan Brown as Iraqi Child
- Rick Shuster as Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 18% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 143
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 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 54 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 43 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 86 |
| 13 to 15 | 3 | 22 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 27 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 15 |
| 22 to 24 | 1 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 40 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 22 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 30 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 8 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 74 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 13 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 15 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 26 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 130 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 29 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 23 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 26 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 16 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 7 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 49 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 12 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 12 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 17 |
| 130 to 132 | 1 | 4 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 9 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 2 |
| 139 to 141 | 2 | 39 |
| 142 to 143 | 0 | 0 |
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.
15 lines from women, 919 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 29 men in the cast. 1 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 102 of 1,138.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 730 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 2% of the words (144), men 98% (7,349).
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
Two women
0
Two men
112
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David O. Russell (man)
- Written by
- David O. Russell (man)
- Story by
- John Ridley (man)
- Produced by
- Charles Roven (man), Edward McDonnell (man), Paul Junger Witt (man)
- Shot by
- Newton Thomas Sigel (man)
- Edited by
- Robert K. Lambert (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Catherine Hardwicke (woman)
- Costumes by
- Kym Barrett (woman)
- Cast by
- Anne McCarthy (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 18 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 7 men, 11 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 47 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Nora Dunn 47
Men
Saïd Taghmaoui 26, Mark Wahlberg 28, Spike Jonze 29, Jamie Kennedy 29, Ice Cube 30, Cliff Curtis 31, Holt McCallany 36, George Clooney 38, Mykelti Williamson 42
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $75 million
- Box office
- $108 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 143 scenes and 1,138 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
