Passes the Bechdel test
Wag the Dog
1998. Directed by Barry Levinson, written by Larry Beinhart and Hilary Henkin and David Mamet.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
29 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 54. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
After being caught in a scandalous situation days before the election, the president does not seem to have much of a chance of being re-elected. One of his advisers contacts a top Hollywood producer in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically end, all through mass media.
- Released
- 09 Jan 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 74 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 2 wins & 23 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Brean 249 lines, man
- Moss 215 lines, man
- Ames 141 lines, woman
- Fad King 24 lines, man
- Schumann 20 lines, man
- Liz 17 lines, woman
- Mr. Young 17 lines, man
- President 15 lines, man
- Grace 10 lines, woman
- Trudy 10 lines
Full cast, 101 people
- Dustin Hoffman as Stanley Motss
- Robert De Niro as Conrad Brean
- Anne Heche as Winifred Ames
- Woody Harrelson as Sergeant William Schumann
- Denis Leary as Fad King
- Willie Nelson as Johnny Dean
- Andrea Martin as Liz Butsky
- Kirsten Dunst as Tracy Lime
- William H. Macy as CIA Agent Charles Young
- David Koechner as Director
- Michael Belson as President
- Suzanne Cryer as Amy Cain
- John Michael Higgins as John Levy
- Suzie Plakson as Grace
- Jason Cottle as A.D.
- Harland Williams as Pet Wrangler
- Sean Masterson as Bob Richardson
- Bernard Hocke as Technician
- Jenna Byrne as Sharon
- Maurice Woods as Kid with Shoes
- Roebuck 'Pops' Staples as Pops Staples
- Phil Morris as Co-Pilot
- Chris Ellis as Officer
- Ed Morgan as Store Owner
- J. Patrick McCormack as Pilot
- Jennifer Manley as Teenage Girl
- Edrie Warner as Judge
- Richard Lawson as Young Man / CIA
- Drena De Niro as Gate Stewardess
- Alberto Vazquez as Combine Driver
- Stephanie Kemp as Aide #1
- Jack Esformes as Aide #2
- John Cho as Aide #3
- Michael Reid Davis as Aide #4
- Brant Cotton as Sharon's Boyfriend
- Kenneth Kern as Nashville Engineer
- Michelle Levinson as Faye
- Ron McCoy as Limo Driver
- Derek Morgan as CIA Agent
- Garry R. Roleder as USAF Chaplain
- Merle Haggard as Merle Haggard
- Jim Belushi as Jim Belushi
- George Gaynes as Senator Nole
- Rick Scarry as White House Reporter
- Cliff B. Howard as Ranger
- Furley Lumpkin as Raking Dad #1
- Sean Fenton as Raking Dad #2
- Nikki Crawford as Mom
- John Franklin as Jockey #1
- Kevin Furlong as Jockey #2
- Lu Elrod as Southern Woman
- Michael Villani as Male Commentator
- Shirley Prestia as Crossfire Moderator
- Warren Wilson as Crossfire Interviewer
- Terry Anzur as Factory Reporter
- Melissa Gardner as Santa Fe Reporter
- Giselle Fernández as Female Press Person
- Christine Devine as Chicago Newscaster
- Richard Saxton as Chicago Newscaster #2
- Geoffrey Blake as Media Guy #1
- Jerry Levine as Media Guy #2
- Jack Shearer as Sklansky
- Emmett Miller as News Break Reporter
- Bill Handel as Andrews AFB Reporter
- Anais Afshan as Albanian Girl
- Hope Garber as Albanian Grandmother
- Gina Menza as Press Room Reporter
- Maggie Mellin as Mrs. Rose
- Tom Murray as Aircraft Carrier Reporter
- Ralph Tabakin as Southern Man
- Marguerite Moreau as Teenage Girl in Audience
- Jay Leno as Jay Leno
- Nicole Avant as American Dream Singer
- Wendy Lou Halvorsen as American Dream Singer
- Tom Bähler as American Dream Singer
- Anthony Holiday as American Dream Singer
- Allen Carter as American Dream Singer
- Brad Kalas as American Dream Singer
- Carmen Carter as American Dream Singer
- Billy Trudel as American Dream Singer
- Lance Eaton as American Dream Singer
- Mark Vieha as American Dream Singer
- Karen Geraghty as American Dream Singer
- Julia Waters as American Dream Singer
- James Gilstrap as American Dream Singer
- Oren Waters as American Dream Singer
- Jennifer Gross as American Dream Singer
- Maxine Waters Willard as American Dream Singer
- Craig T. Nelson as Senator John Neal (uncredited)
- Barry Levinson as Man at a Movie Studio (uncredited)
- Robert Richardson as Man in a TV Studio (uncredited)
- Laura Bennecke as White House Secretary (uncredited)
- Greg Bronson as Chauffer (uncredited)
- Phillip V. Caruso as War Commercial Photographer (uncredited)
- Sean Ireland as Military Officer (uncredited)
- Glendon Rich as Grieving Politician (uncredited)
- Guy Richardson as Secret Service Agent (uncredited)
- Robert Sedona as Politician (uncredited)
- Randy Springer as Airline Passenger (uncredited)
- Chelsea Talbott as Crying Girl at Funeral Parade (uncredited)
- Paul Webster as Limo Driver (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 54
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 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 to 4 | 29 | 36 |
| 5 to 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 19 | 23 |
| 9 to 10 | 3 | 48 |
| 11 to 12 | 10 | 46 |
| 13 to 14 | 24 | 50 |
| 15 to 16 | 10 | 35 |
| 17 to 18 | 2 | 5 |
| 19 to 20 | 33 | 52 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 4 |
| 23 to 24 | 7 | 28 |
| 25 to 26 | 2 | 22 |
| 27 to 28 | 1 | 13 |
| 29 to 30 | 1 | 12 |
| 31 to 32 | 5 | 8 |
| 33 to 34 | 2 | 14 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 16 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 17 |
| 41 to 42 | 3 | 16 |
| 43 to 44 | 11 | 39 |
| 45 to 46 | 7 | 26 |
| 47 to 48 | 9 | 56 |
| 49 to 50 | 10 | 73 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
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.
CAIN: ...Yes. AMES: When do we bring'em back?
GRACE: ...good title for a movie.... AMES: ..."Terrorism," and an attempt to infiltrate...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 23 are women's.
191 lines from women, 643 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
29 women and 57 men in the cast. 8 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 895.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 53 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,692), men 83% (8,218). Women have 23% 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
6
Two men
55
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Barry Levinson (man)
- Written by
- Hilary Henkin (woman), David Mamet (man)
- Produced by
- Robert De Niro (man), Barry Levinson (man), Jane Rosenthal (woman)
- Shot by
- Robert Richardson (man)
- Edited by
- Stu Linder (man)
- Music by
- Mark Knopfler (man)
- Production design by
- Wynn Thomas (man)
- Costumes by
- Rita Ryack (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman), Debra Zane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
9 women, 25 men, 16 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 11 men, 13 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 9 men, 19 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 8 men, 17 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 19 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 14 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men, 9 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kirsten Dunst 15, Anne Heche 28, Andrea Martin 50
Men
David Koechner 35, Woody Harrelson 36, Denis Leary 40, William H. Macy 47, Robert De Niro 54, Dustin Hoffman 60, Willie Nelson 64
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $64.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 54 scenes and 895 lines of dialogue. How the test works
