Passes the Bechdel test

Vice

Name: Vice
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Adam McKay, written by Adam McKay.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
22 women characters. 20 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 176.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

Governor George W. Bush of Texas, picks Dick Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton Company, to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election. No stranger to politics, Cheney's impressive resume includes stints as White House Chief of Staff, House Minority Whip, and Defense Secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world.

Released: 25 Dec 2018
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 35 wins & 139 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Dick 186 lines, man
Narrator 90 lines, man
Lynne 78 lines, woman
Rumsfeld 71 lines, man
W Bush 37 lines, man
Scooter Libby 21 lines, man
David Addington 13 lines, man
Mary 11 lines, woman
Condi Rice 9 lines, woman
Liz 9 lines, woman

Full cast, 101 people

Christian Bale as Dick Cheney
Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney
Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld
Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush
Alison Pill as Mary Cheney
Eddie Marsan as Paul Wolfowitz
Justin Kirk as Scooter Libby
LisaGay Hamilton as Condoleezza Rice
Jesse Plemons as Kurt
Bill Camp as Gerald Ford
Don McManus as David Addington
Lily Rabe as Liz Cheney
Shea Whigham as Wayne Vincent
Stephen Adly Guirgis as George Tenet
Tyler Perry as Colin Powell
Josh Latzer as Secret Service Agent
Jeff Bosley as Secret Service Agent
Camille James Harman as Mary Matalin
Jillian Armenante as Karen Hughes
Matthew Jacobs as Antonin Scalia
Robert L. Hughes as Justice Warren E. Burger
Scott Christopher as Marshal
Amir Malaklou as Prisoner
Paul Perri as Trent Lott
Edward Fletcher as Democratic Senator
Brian Woo Young Chung as Soldier by Tank
Kawa Mawlayee as Soldier by Tank
Alex MacNicoll as 17 Year Old Dick Cheney
Cailee Spaeny as 17 Year Old Lynne Vincent
Brandon Sklenar as Bobby Prentace
Casey Sander as Old Crew Member
Joe Sabatino as Lineman Boss
Fay Masterson as Edna Vincent
Dan Gilvary as Monotone Congressman
Stephen Friedrich as Alan
Kyle S. More as Roger Ailes
Robyn Wholey as White House Tour Guide
Betsy Koch as Kurt's Wife
Elliot Zetumer as Kurt's Son
Kirk Bovill as Henry Kissinger
Violet Hicks as 8 Year Old Liz Cheney
Colyse Harger as 5 Year Old Mary Cheney
Brandon Bales as CIA Agent
Brian Poth as Secret Service Agent
Sam Massaro as Young Antonin Scalia
Doug Simpson as Campaign Manager
Scott Subiono as Cheney's Doctor
Dennis LaValle as Mayor
Al Carabello as Aide
Melissa K. Marks as Heather Poe
Treisa Gary as Clerk
Chris Dougherty as Philip Perry
John Hillner as George Bush Sr.
Grace Go as Teacher
Michael Reilly Burke as David Gribbin
Staci Roberts as Theresa
William Goldman as Dennis Hastert
Tony Forsmark as Grover Norquist
Adam Bartley as Frank Luntz
Daniel Bruington as Doug
Vishesh Chachra as Secret Service Agent
Kevin Flood as Richard Clarke
Michael A. Naggi as Other Man
Melissa Schumacher as Intelligence Officer
Delpaneaux Wills as Intelligence Officer
Scott Alan Smith as Intelligence Officer
Paul Yoo as John Yoo
Brandon Firla as Jay Bybee
Omid Zader as Waterboard Translator
David Yahya as Waterboard Translator
Karim Saleh as Translator
Terri Cavanaugh as Focus Group Leader
Stewart J. Zully as Focus Group Participant
Ptolemy Slocum as Focus Group Participant
Melody Hollis as Focus Group Participant
Matt Champagne as Douglas Feith
Joseph Beck as Karl Rove
Tony Graham as Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi
Alex Kingi as Osama Bin Laden
Vanessa Cloke as CIA Analyst
David Fabrizio as Lawrence Wilkerson
Matt Miller as General
Mark Bramhall as Harry Whittington
Holly Hawkins as Katherine Armstrong
John Kellar as Soldier
Dustin Green as Soldier
James Hornbeck as Patrick Leahy
Robert Loftin as GW Doctor / Surgeon
Kevin Symons as Male News Anchor
Stacie Greenwell as Nurse
Amy Moorman as Martha Raddatz
Naomi Watts as News Anchor (uncredited)
Aidan Gail as 12 Year Old Dick Cheney (uncredited)
Alfred Molina as Waiter (uncredited)
Richard Nixon as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Jimmy Carter as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Ronald Reagan as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Mr. T as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Mike Pence as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Hillary Clinton as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)
Barack Obama as Self (archival footage) (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 176

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 4	0	3
5 to 8	6	15
9 to 12	0	12
13 to 16	9	10
17 to 20	1	21
21 to 24	0	13
25 to 28	5	24
29 to 32	3	12
33 to 36	3	13
37 to 40	4	13
41 to 44	7	23
45 to 48	2	12
49 to 52	4	6
53 to 56	4	4
57 to 60	0	3
61 to 64	5	8
65 to 68	12	6
69 to 72	2	4
73 to 76	16	57
77 to 80	9	38
81 to 84	5	20
85 to 88	4	29
89 to 92	0	18
93 to 96	0	4
97 to 100	0	17
101 to 104	10	31
105 to 108	2	4
109 to 112	0	20
113 to 116	7	11
117 to 120	1	8
121 to 124	3	21
125 to 128	0	9
129 to 132	6	14
133 to 136	0	1
137 to 140	0	0
141 to 144	0	5
145 to 148	1	11
149 to 152	0	16
153 to 156	0	15
157 to 160	3	4
161 to 164	3	4
165 to 168	3	0
169 to 172	1	0
173 to 176	2	8

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.

CONDI RICE: UNODIR? KAREN HUGHES: Unless otherwise directed.

LIZ: Mom, is the President being punished? LYNNE: The President has a lot of enemies. Never forget Lizzy: when you get power they always try and take it from you. Always. LIZ: Yes M’am.

LIZ: That wasn’t offensive. Should I be offended? LYNNE: I’m offended Dave wasn’t worried I’d be offended. LIZ: Oh, a rubber glove. Like a proctology exam. That’s...that’s disgusting.

MARY: American Idol. LIZ: You’ve watched it. You’ve seen it. MARY LIZ: We watched it at your house. I watched it sitting next to you. LIZ: The singing and mean judge.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.

143 lines from women, 567 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

22 women and 66 men in the cast. 20 women and 49 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 8 of 826. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 76 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 (1,711), men 82% (7,641). Women have 20% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Adam McKay (man)
Written by: Adam McKay (man)
Produced by: Brad Pitt (man), Will Ferrell (man), Dede Gardner (woman), Jeremy Kleiner (man), Adam McKay (man), Kevin J. Messick (man)
Shot by: Greig Fraser (man)
Edited by: Hank Corwin (man)
Music by: Nicholas Britell (man)
Production design by: Patrice Vermette (man)
Costumes by: Susan Matheson (woman)
Cast by: Francine Maisler (woman), Kathy Driscoll-Mohler (woman)