Fails the Bechdel test
Water for Elephants
2011. Directed by Francis Lawrence, written by Richard LaGravenese and Sara Gruen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 2 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
After his parents' death, Jacob Jankowski is left penniless and homeless. Events lead him to joining the circus as their vet, working under their unstable boss August whose violent tendencies give everyone reason to be cautious around him, including his beautiful and quiet wife Marlena, whom August is very possessive of and who Jacob finds himself soon falling in love with.
- Released
- 22 Apr 2011
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jacob 246 lines, man
- August 152 lines, man
- Marlena 102 lines, woman
- Camel 32 lines, man
- Kinko 25 lines, man
- Walter 24 lines, man
- Charlie 22 lines, man
- Earl 15 lines, man
- Greg 11 lines
- Diamond Joe 6 lines, man
Full cast, 82 people
- Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski
- Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth
- Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth
- Paul Schneider as Charlie
- Jim Norton as Camel
- Hal Holbrook as Old Jacob
- Donna W. Scott as Barbara
- Richard Brake as Grady
- Stephen Monroe Taylor as Wade
- Mark Povinelli as Kinko / Walter
- Ken Foree as Earl
- Scott MacDonald as Blackie
- James Frain as Rosie's Caretaker
- Sam Anderson as Mr. Hyde
- John Aylward as Mr. Erwin
- Brad Greenquist as Mr. Robinson
- Tim Guinee as Diamond Joe
- E.E. Bell as Cecil the Barker
- Kyle Jordan as Russ
- Aleksandra Kaniak as Mrs. Jankowski
- Ilia Volok as Mr. Jankowski
- Bruce Gray as Proctor
- Jim Jansen as Dean Wilkins
- James Keane as Chaplain
- Ivo Nandi as Grocer
- Karynn Moore as Catherine Hale
- Andrew Connolly as Weehawken Officer
- Doug McDougal as Big Top Band Leader
- Tracy Phillips as Coochie Girl (Nell)
- Michelle LaVon as Coochie Girl
- Rowan O'Hara as Stampede Girl
- Uggie as Queenie
- Ice as Silver Star
- Major as Rex
- Chris Grabher as Clown
- Tatum Etheridge as Jacob's Daughter
- Chris Blim as Big Top Band
- William Morse as Big Top Band
- Glen McDougal as Big Top Band
- Stefan Rollins as Big Top Band
- Sita Acevedo as Circus Performer
- Danny Castle as Circus Performer
- Aloysia Gavre as Circus Performer
- Chobi Gyorgy as Circus Performer
- Bianca Sapetto as Circus Performer
- Katia Sereno as Circus Performer
- Vladimir Sizov as Circus Performer
- Lee-Anne Telford as Circus Performer
- Sebastien Stella as Circus Performer
- Dreya Weber as Circus Performer
- Russ Stark as Circus Performer
- Molly O'Neill as Showgirl
- Kacie Borrowman as Showgirl
- Shannon Freyer as Showgirl
- Kelsey McNamee as Showgirl
- Tara Ferguson as Showgirl
- Brad Potts as Sideshow
- Mary Newman as Sideshow
- Jackie Zane as Sideshow
- Kacie Borrowman as Sideshow
- Robert Kestler as Circus Roustabout
- Julianna Piechoczek as Foxtrot Dancer (uncredited)
- Ashley Palmer as Foxtrot Dancer (uncredited)
- Melissa Johnston as Foxtrot Dancer (uncredited)
- Sarah Karijan as Speakeasy Socialite (uncredited)
- Rob Crites as Sideshow
- Jonathan Moore as Sideshow
- Larry Gómez as Sideshow (as Gabriel Ramos-Gomez)
- Aryiel Hartman as Coochie Girl
- Eddie Medrano as Clown
- Stephen Simon as Clown
- Duff Dugan as Big Top Band
- Joe Langer as Big Top Band
- Evan Silverman as Big Top Band
- Beresford Bennett as Sideshow Band
- Johnny Britt as Sideshow Band
- Garnett Brown as Sideshow Band
- George Harper as Sideshow Band
- Todd Cochran as Speakeasy Jazz Band
- Keith Fiddmont as Speakeasy Jazz Band
- Karl Vincent as Speakeasy Jazz Band
- Bonzai as Hyena
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 150
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 | 31 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 6 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 15 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 9 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 8 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 48 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 18 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 25 |
| 45 to 48 | 5 | 23 |
| 49 to 52 | 2 | 21 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 14 |
| 57 to 60 | 31 | 56 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 6 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 41 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 to 76 | 2 | 5 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 14 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 18 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 13 |
| 89 to 92 | 25 | 19 |
| 93 to 96 | 3 | 3 |
| 97 to 100 | 5 | 24 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 14 | 36 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 19 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 2 | 22 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 18 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 2 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 11 |
| 149 to 150 | 0 | 8 |
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, 17 are women's.
108 lines from women, 545 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
22 women and 35 men in the cast. 2 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 88 of 693.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 107 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 19% of the words (2,358), men 81% (10,344). Women have 17% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
51
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Francis Lawrence (man)
- Written by
- Richard LaGravenese (man)
- From the novel by
- Sara Gruen (woman)
- Produced by
- Andrew R. Tennenbaum (gender not listed), Erwin Stoff (man), Gil Netter (man)
- Shot by
- Rodrigo Prieto (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Edward Bell (man)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Jack Fisk (man)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline West (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
17 women, 43 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 17 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
5 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Reese Witherspoon 35, Donna W. Scott 37
Men
Robert Pattinson 24, Paul Schneider 35, Mark Povinelli 39, Richard Brake 46, Christoph Waltz 54, Jim Norton 73, Hal Holbrook 86
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $38 million
- Box office
- $117 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 150 scenes and 693 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
