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Passes the Bechdel test

Uncle Buck

1989. Directed by John Hughes, written by John Hughes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    12 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 249.
  3. 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.

Poster for Uncle Buck

The film

As an idle but good-natured commitment-phobe, Buck Russell is the last person you would think of to watch his brother Bob's three children. However, during a family crisis, he is suddenly left in charge of them. Unaccustomed to suburban life, he soon charms Miles and Maizy with his hefty cooking and his new way of doing the laundry. His carefree style does not impress everyone though - especially his rebellious teenage niece, Tia, and impatient girlfriend, Chanice. With a little bit of luck and a lot of love, he manages to surprise everyone in this heartwarming family comedy.

Released
16 Aug 1989
Genres
Comedy
Rated
PG
IMDb
7.1 / 10
Metascore
51 / 100
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Buck 330 lines, man
  2. Tia 155 lines, woman
  3. Miles 99 lines, man
  4. Chanice 75 lines, woman
  5. Maizy 59 lines, woman
  6. Cindy 48 lines, woman
  7. Marcie 36 lines, woman
  8. Bob 33 lines, man
  9. Bug 24 lines, man
  10. Rog 9 lines, man
Full cast, 37 people
  • John Candy as Buck Russell
  • Jean Louisa Kelly as Tia Russell
  • Gaby Hoffmann as Maizy Russell
  • Macaulay Culkin as Miles Russell
  • Amy Madigan as Chanice Kobolowski
  • Elaine Bromka as Cindy Russell
  • Garrett M. Brown as Bob Russell
  • Laurie Metcalf as Marcie Dahlgren-Frost
  • Jay Underwood as Bug
  • Brian Tarantina as E. Roger Coswell
  • Mike Starr as Pooter-the-Clown
  • Suzanne Shepherd as Mrs. Hogarth
  • William Windom as Mr. Hatfield (voice)
  • Dennis Cockrum as Pal
  • Joel Robinson as Miles' Friend #1
  • Colin Baumgartner as Miles' Friend #2
  • Erik Whipple as Miles' Friend #3
  • Mark Rosenthal as Party Boy #1
  • Doug von Nessen as Party Boy #2
  • Wayne Kneeland as Party Boy #3
  • Gigi Casler as Party Girl in Bedroom
  • LaVerne Anderson as Party Girl #1
  • Gina Doctor as Party Girl #2
  • Rachel Thompson Perrine as Party Girl #3
  • Ron Payne as Maizy's Teacher
  • Jane Vickerilla as Teacher
  • Kyle Lewis Eastman as School Child
  • Dana Taylor as School Child
  • Jennifer Kane as School Child
  • Christen Loftis as School Child
  • Genae Affrunti as School Child
  • Anna Chlumsky as School Child
  • Patricia Arquette as Additional Voices (voice)
  • Jack Blessing as Additional Voices (voice)
  • Devon Odessa as Additional Voices (voice)
  • Ryan Todd as School Child (uncredited)
  • Arnold F. Turner as Additional Voices (voice)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 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 249

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 6238
7 to 1244
13 to 182112
19 to 241427
25 to 301619
31 to 3658
37 to 4200
43 to 482423
49 to 541235
55 to 6002
61 to 66710
67 to 7264
73 to 782428
79 to 8488
85 to 90310
91 to 9602
97 to 1022323
103 to 1081616
109 to 1141143
115 to 120110
121 to 126116
127 to 132013
133 to 138816
139 to 1441524
145 to 15011
151 to 156119
157 to 16260
163 to 1681710
169 to 17432
175 to 18076
181 to 186629
187 to 1921816
193 to 19853
199 to 204720
205 to 210318
211 to 21624
217 to 22212
223 to 22866
229 to 23495
235 to 2402616
241 to 246810
247 to 24966

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.
TIA: Get your backpack off the table. People eat there. MAIZY: They eat on plates and the plates are on the table. TIA: Don't give me any crap, Maizy. MAIZY: I'm telling you said crap.
TIA: It was their brilliant idea to move here. They weren't making enough cash in Indianapolis, forget that we were perfectly happy. So, thank th… MAIZY: I'm telling on that one. TIA: Shut your face. TIA: That doesn't go there.
TIA: Maizy? Did I kick you around? MAIZY: No, but you said "shit'' twice. MAIZY: But only once for real. TIA: I got better things to do than babysit you, you little stain.
TIA: Say hello, Maizy. MAIZY: Hello.
MAIZY: Huh? TIA: Quit ingratiating yourself to them by running me down in front of them.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 42 are women's.

384 lines from women, 524 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 15 men in the cast. 5 women and 6 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 934. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 38% of the words (3,033), men 62% (5,003). Women have 42% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
John Hughes (man)
Written by
John Hughes (man)
Produced by
John Hughes (man), Tom Jacobson (man)
Shot by
Ralf D. Bode (man)
Edited by
Lou Lombardo (man), Peck Prior (man), Tony Lombardo (man)
Music by
Ira Newborn (man)
Production design by
John W. Corso (man)
Costumes by
Marilyn Vance (woman)
Cast by
Risa Bramon Garcia (woman), Billy Hopkins (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    1 women, 18 men, 3 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 7 men, 8 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 6 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 4 men, 10 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 5 men, 8 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 2 men, 3 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 27 on average. Men: 27 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Gaby Hoffmann 7, Jean Louisa Kelly 17, Laurie Metcalf 34, Amy Madigan 38, Elaine Bromka 39

Men

Macaulay Culkin 8, Jay Underwood 20, Brian Tarantina 30, John Candy 38, Garrett M. Brown 40

Exhibit H: the money

It made 5.3 times what it cost.

Budget
$15 million
Box office
$79.3 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 249 scenes and 934 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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