Fails the Bechdel test
Vanilla Sky
2001. Directed by Cameron Crowe, written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil and Cameron Crowe.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 6 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Incarcerated and charged with murder, David Aames Jr. is telling the story of how he got to where he is to McCabe, the police psychologist. That story includes: being the 51% shareholder of a major publishing firm, which he inherited from his long deceased parents; the firm's board, appointed by David Aames Sr., being the 49% shareholders who would probably like to see him gone as they see him as being too irresponsible and immature to run the company; his best bro friendship with author, Brian Shelby; his "friends with benefits" relationship with Julie Gianni, who saw their relationship in a slightly different light; his budding romance with Sofia Serrano, who Brian brought to David's party as his own date and who Brian saw as his own possible life mate; and being in an accident which disfigured his face and killed the person who caused the accident. But as the story proceeds, David isn't sure what is real and what is a dream/nightmare as many facets of the story are incompatible to be all real. The mysterious man in the restaurant may be able to shed some light on David's confusion.
- Released
- 14 Dec 2001
- Genres
- Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 45 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 34 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- David 390 lines, man
- Sofia 131 lines, woman
- Brian 85 lines, man
- Mccabe 82 lines, man
- Julianna 53 lines
- Ventura 49 lines, man
- Tipp 16 lines, man
- Dr. Pomeranz 14 lines, man
- Dearborn 8 lines, woman
- A Woman 6 lines, woman
Full cast, 91 people
- Tom Cruise as David Aames
- Penélope Cruz as Sofia Serrano
- Cameron Diaz as Julie Gianni
- Kurt Russell as Curtis McCabe
- Jason Lee as Brian Shelby
- Noah Taylor as Edmund Ventura
- Timothy Spall as Thomas Tipp
- Tilda Swinton as Rebecca Dearborn
- Michael Shannon as Aaron
- Delaina Mitchell as David's Assistant
- Shalom Harlow as Colleen
- Oona Hart as Lynette
- Ivana Miličević as Emma
- Johnny Galecki as Peter Brown
- Jhaemi Willens as Jamie Berliner
- Armand Schultz as Dr. Pomeranz
- Cameron Watson as Other Doctor
- Robertson Dean as Third Doctor
- W. Earl Brown as Barman
- Ray Proscia as Doctor from Berlin
- Tim Hopper as Man in Blue Coat
- Alicia Witt as Libby
- Ken Leung as Art Editor
- Carolyn Byrne as Beatrice
- Mark Pinter as Carlton Kaller
- Jeff Weiss as Raymond Tooley
- Conan O'Brien as Conan O'Brien
- James Murtaugh as Benny's Owner
- Mark Kozelek as Dude, Fix Your Face Guy
- John Fedevich as Silent Ed Vallencourt
- Bobby Walsh as Young David
- Stacey Sher as Rayna
- Fred Schruers as Cryo Man
- Jessica Siemens as Sofia's Friend
- Julia Carothers Hughes as Sofia's Friend
- Holly Raye as Dancer
- Marty Collins as Martini Waiter
- Mark Bramhall as Sneezy
- Jack Hall as Bashful
- David Lewison as Sleepy
- Jennifer Griffin as Happy
- Adam LeGrant as Doc
- John Kepley as Dopey
- Robin Van Sharner as Grumpy
- Laurel Wiley as Dr. Jennifer Ash
- Nicole Taylor Hart as Party Videographer
- Julia Decker as Model
- Jennifer Marie Kelley as Model
- Erin McElmurry as Model
- Alice Marie Crowe as Lucid Dreamer
- Mel Thompson as Life Extension Man
- Jonathan Sanger as Frozen Pediatric Cardiologist
- Tommy Lee as Frozen Vintage Car Man
- Ana Maria Quintana as Frozen Theologist
- Paul Haggar as Frozen Risktaker
- Randy Woodside as Frozen Dad
- Robert F. Harrison as Laughing Guy
- Carly Starr Brullo Niles as Carly
- Jane Pratt as Jane Pratt
- Patrick McMullen as Patrick McMullen
- Steven Colvin as Steven Colvin
- Cindy Crowe as Cindy Crowe
- John Sypolt as John Sypolt
- Michael G. Kehoe as Chef
- Danielle Wolff as Coat Check Girl
- Scotch Ellis Loring as L.E. Building Guard
- Brent Sexton as Security Guard
- Curt Skaggs as Security Guard
- Jennifer Gimenez as Lola
- Lori Lezama as Skyscraper Girl
- Todd Harrison as Skyscraper Guy
- Laura Fraser as The Future
- Steven Spielberg as Self (uncredited)
- Jennifer Aspen as Nina (uncredited)
- Celina Belizan as Luli (uncredited)
- Craig Callow as Clubgoer (uncredited)
- Jean Carol as Woman Nearby (uncredited)
- Tony Collucci as Guy at Party (uncredited)
- Janine Foster as Dancer (uncredited)
- Zach Hudson as Life Extension Security Guard (uncredited)
- Ryan Keating as SWAT Team Officer (uncredited)
- Roger Lim as SWAT Team Officer (uncredited)
- Tara Lipinski as Girl at Party (uncredited)
- William Mapother as Clubgoer (uncredited)
- Christy Meyers as Girl in Office (uncredited)
- Jan Munroe as Older Editor (uncredited)
- Marie Paquim as Extra (uncredited)
- Ronald Rand as Investigator (uncredited)
- Tasha Tae as Dancer (uncredited)
- Bryan Todd as Dancer (uncredited)
- Christie Will Wolf as Waiting Room Model (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 112
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 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 2 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 29 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 45 |
| 19 to 21 | 21 | 54 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 12 | 41 |
| 28 to 30 | 18 | 22 |
| 31 to 33 | 13 | 22 |
| 34 to 36 | 10 | 24 |
| 37 to 39 | 7 | 11 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 9 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 34 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 1 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 9 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 31 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 17 |
| 61 to 63 | 17 | 40 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 20 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 9 |
| 70 to 72 | 9 | 7 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 19 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 9 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 30 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 41 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 21 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 4 | 8 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 14 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 27 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 10 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 6 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 4 |
| 112 to 112 | 4 | 33 |
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, 19 are women's.
155 lines from women, 671 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
26 women and 35 men in the cast. 6 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 912.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 94 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (2,147), men 82% (9,618). Women have 19% 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
Two women
0
Two men
40
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Cameron Crowe (man)
- Written by
- Cameron Crowe (man)
- Produced by
- Tom Cruise (man), Paula Wagner (woman), Cameron Crowe (man)
- Shot by
- John Toll (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Hutshing (man), Mark Livolsi (man)
- Music by
- Nancy Wilson (woman)
- Production design by
- Catherine Hardwicke (woman)
- Costumes by
- Betsy Heimann (woman)
- Cast by
- Gail Levin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 23 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 8 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 5 men
-
Art
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Delaina Mitchell 26, Penélope Cruz 27, Cameron Diaz 29, Tilda Swinton 41
Men
Michael Shannon 27, Jason Lee 31, Noah Taylor 32, Tom Cruise 39, Timothy Spall 44, Kurt Russell 50
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $68 million
- Box office
- $203 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 112 scenes and 912 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
