Fails the Bechdel test
We Own the Night
2007. Directed by James Gray, written by James Gray.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 5 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 0 out of 3.
The film
Brooklyn, 1988. Crime is rife, especially drugs and drug violence. A Russian thug is building his heroin trade, while everyone laughs at the cops. Brothers have chosen different paths: Joe has followed his father Bert into New York's Finest; he's a rising star. Bobby, who uses his mother's maiden name, manages a club. Bobby too is on the rise: he has a new girlfriend and a green-light to develop a Manhattan club. Joe and Bert ask him to help with intelligence gathering; he declines. Then, Joe raids Bobby's club to arrest the Russian. From there, things spiral out of control: the Russian puts out a hit on Joe, personal losses mount, and Bobby's loyalties face the test.
- Released
- 12 Oct 2007
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bobby Green 323 lines, man
- Joseph Grusinsky 81 lines, man
- Rosario Diaz 72 lines, woman
- Burt Grusinsky 69 lines, man
- Louis Falsetti 58 lines, man
- Michael Solo 53 lines, man
- Vadim Nezhinski 37 lines, man
- Marat Buzhayev 27 lines, man
- Jack Shapiro 20 lines, man
- Pavel Lubyarsky 16 lines, man
Full cast, 81 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Bobby Green
- Mark Wahlberg as Joseph Grusinsky
- Eva Mendes as Amada Juarez
- Robert Duvall as Burt Grusinsky
- Alex Veadov as Vadim Nezhinski
- Paul Herman as Spiro Giavannis
- Antoni Corone as Michael Solo
- Tony Musante as Jack Shapiro
- Katie Condidorio as Hazel
- Danny Hoch as Jumbo Falsetti
- Oleg Taktarov as Pavel Lubyarsky
- Dominic Colón as Freddie
- Joseph D'Onofrio as Bloodied Patron
- Yelena Solovey as Kalina Buzhayev
- Moni Moshonov as Marat Buzhayev
- Maggie Kiley as Sandra Grusinsky
- Craig Walker as Russell De Keifer
- Claudia Lopez as Claudia
- Edward Shkolnikov as Eli Mirichenko
- Katya Savina as Eli & Masha's Daughter
- Matthew Djentchouraev as Eli & Masha's Son
- Scott Nicholson as Nat the Cop
- Robert C. Kirk as Sergeant Provenzano
- Al Linea as Portly Cop
- Teddy Coluca as Uniformed Cop #1
- Frank Girardeau as Police Chaplain
- Joseph Coffey as Uniformed Cop #2
- Jose Edwin Soto as Latino Man
- Greg Wilson as Poker Player
- Ed Koch as Mayor
- Fred Burrell as Commissioner Ruddy
- Mike Massimino as Hospital Guard
- Edward Conlon as Hospital Guard #2
- Sharon Wilkins as Nurse
- Ross Brodar as Tattooed Man
- Francis Toumbakaris as Slavic Youth
- Hoon Lee as Emergency Services Driver
- Barbara Ann Davison as Neighbor Lady
- Irwin Gray as Neighbor
- Luigi Scorcia as Luigi
- Miriam Cruz as Amada's Mother
- Doug Torres as Schneider
- Tony Guida as Vitt the Guard
- Robert G. McKay as Riker's Desk Guard
- Blaise Corrigan as Uniformed Police Officer
- Karl Bury as Random Cop
- Joe Forbrich as Guard
- Robert A. Pennacchia as Guard
- Richard Petrocelli as Tough Looking Cop
- Nik Pjeternikaj as Albanian Drug Lord
- Jamal Weathers as Parabolic Engineer
- Elliot Santiago as El Caribe Bouncer #1
- Jeff Ward as El Caribe Bouncer #2
- Christopher Place as El Caribe Party Patron #1
- Samantha MacIvor as El Caribe Party Patron #2
- Bob Colletti as El Caribe Party Patron #3
- Aaron Vexler as El Caribe Party Patron #4
- Victor Tatarkin as Vadim's Goon #2
- Patrick M. Walsh as Eli Bodyguard
- Coati Mundi as Coati Mundi
- Salvatore Inzerillo as Police Reporter (uncredited)
- Ava Lee Scott as Veronica (uncredited)
- Ashley Avis as Vadim's Girlfriend (uncredited)
- James Balsamo as Club Dancer (uncredited)
- Edwin J. Birmingham as ESU Officer (uncredited)
- Robert Bizik as Police Officer (uncredited)
- John Borras as Riker's Prison Guard (uncredited)
- Mike Burke as Pavel's Driver (uncredited)
- Dominick Cicco as Police Officer (uncredited)
- J.W. Cortes as Bouncer (uncredited)
- Tony Devon as Body Guard (uncredited)
- Turi Haim as Dancer (uncredited)
- Edward M. Kelahan as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Nina Lisandrello as Bobby's Friend (uncredited)
- Bernadette Lords as El Caribe Party Patron (uncredited)
- Tyler Noble as Bobby's Friend (uncredited)
- Martin Pfefferkorn as Perp in Precinct (uncredited)
- Alexandra Tejeda Rieloff as Cop's Wife (uncredited)
- Aaron Scotti as El Caribe Party Patron (uncredited)
- Sybelle Silverphoenix as Club Goer (uncredited)
- Christopher Stadulis as Police Officer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 145
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 | 2 | 9 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 12 |
| 9 to 12 | 7 | 69 |
| 13 to 16 | 10 | 18 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 19 |
| 21 to 24 | 2 | 31 |
| 25 to 28 | 4 | 43 |
| 29 to 32 | 1 | 23 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 17 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 37 |
| 41 to 44 | 3 | 22 |
| 45 to 48 | 6 | 23 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 37 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 28 |
| 57 to 60 | 9 | 21 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 9 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 7 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 21 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 7 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 20 |
| 85 to 88 | 6 | 9 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 27 |
| 93 to 96 | 6 | 15 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 10 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 2 | 32 |
| 109 to 112 | 1 | 12 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 23 |
| 117 to 120 | 13 | 51 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 18 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 41 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 22 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 4 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 4 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 15 |
| 145 to 145 | 0 | 12 |
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, 10 are women's.
89 lines from women, 772 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 51 men in the cast. 5 women and 34 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 889.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 96 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (799), men 92% (8,860). Women have 10% 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
89
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- James Gray (man)
- Written by
- James Gray (man)
- Produced by
- Marc Butan (man), Mark Wahlberg (man), Nick Wechsler (man), Joaquin Phoenix (man)
- Shot by
- Joaquín Baca-Asay (man)
- Edited by
- John Axelrad (man)
- Music by
- Wojciech Kilar (man)
- Production design by
- Ford Wheeler (man)
- Costumes by
- Michael Clancy (man)
- Cast by
- Douglas Aibel (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 12 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 11 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Eva Mendes 33
Men
Joaquin Phoenix 32, Mark Wahlberg 36, Danny Hoch 36, Alex Veadov 45, Antoni Corone 52, Paul Herman 61, Tony Musante 71, Robert Duvall 76
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $21 million
- Box office
- $55 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 145 scenes and 889 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
