Passes the Bechdel test
You've Got Mail
1998. Directed by Nora Ephron, written by Miklós László and Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
21 women characters. 13 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 197. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
This sweet romantic comedy reunites Sleepless In Seattle stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. He's the owner of a bookstore chain; she's the woman he falls for online. Both are unaware that she runs the little shop his company is trying to shut down.
- Released
- 18 Dec 1998
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- 6 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Kathleen 340 lines, woman
- Joe 299 lines, man
- Frank 84 lines, man
- Christina 68 lines, woman
- Patricia 50 lines, woman
- Kevin 41 lines, man
- George 37 lines, man
- Nelson 28 lines, man
- Annabel 24 lines, woman
- Birdie 23 lines, woman
Full cast, 56 people
- Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly
- Tom Hanks as Joe Fox
- Greg Kinnear as Frank Navasky
- Parker Posey as Patricia Eden
- Heather Burns as Christina Plutzker
- Dave Chappelle as Kevin Jackson
- Jean Stapleton as Birdie Conrad
- Steve Zahn as George Pappas
- Dabney Coleman as Nelson Fox
- John Randolph as Schulyer Fox
- Hallee Hirsh as Annabelle Fox
- Jeffrey Scaperrotta as Matt Fox
- Cara Seymour as Gillian Quinn
- Katie Finneran as Maureen, the Nanny
- Michael Badalucco as Charlie
- Deborah Rush as Veronica Cash
- Veanne Cox as Miranda Margulies
- Bruce Jay Friedman as Vince Mancini
- Sara Ramirez as Rose, Zabars Cashier
- Howard Spiegel as Henry, Zabars Shopper
- Diane Sokolow as Zabars Shopper
- Julie Kass as Zabars Shopper
- Reiko Aylesworth as Thanksgiving Guest
- Katie Sagona as Young Kathleen Kelly
- Kathryn Meisle as Cecilia Kelly
- Nina Zoie Lam as T.V. Reporter
- Maggie Murphy as Theater Patron
- Michelle Blakely as Shopper
- Meredith White as Shopper
- Dianne Dreyer as Shopper
- Julie Galdieri as Shopper
- Leila Nichols as Shopper
- Mary A. Kelly as Fox Books Shopper
- Chris Messina as Fox Salesperson
- Ronobir Lahiri as Man at Cafe Lalo
- André Sogliuzzo as Waiter at Lalo
- Peter A. Mian as Capeman
- Richard Cohen as Starbucks Customer
- Enzo Angileri as Starbucks Customer
- Nick Brown as Juggler
- Ann Fleuchaus as Sarah Mancini
- Neil Bonin as Party Guest
- Bill McHugh as Party Guest
- Santiago Quinones as Decorator
- Lynn Grossman as Yvette Fox
- Dolores Sirianni as Mother of Twins
- Nicole Bernadette as Florist
- Jane Adams as Sydney Anne (uncredited)
- Cecelia Antoinette as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Elwood Edwards as Online 'You've Got Mail' Voice (voice) (uncredited)
- Alfonso Gomez-Rejon as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Gideon Jacobs as Young Joe Fox (uncredited)
- Brick Mason as Man Letting Joe Fox in (uncredited)
- Scott Mullin as Male Runner (uncredited)
- Logan Steinhardt as Kid in Bookstore (uncredited)
- Anthony Welch as Business Executive (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 197
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 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 to 10 | 6 | 6 |
| 11 to 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 to 20 | 33 | 3 |
| 21 to 25 | 3 | 45 |
| 26 to 30 | 5 | 2 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 to 40 | 26 | 12 |
| 41 to 45 | 15 | 16 |
| 46 to 50 | 37 | 8 |
| 51 to 55 | 44 | 33 |
| 56 to 60 | 4 | 9 |
| 61 to 65 | 4 | 9 |
| 66 to 70 | 22 | 33 |
| 71 to 75 | 5 | 3 |
| 76 to 80 | 2 | 7 |
| 81 to 85 | 17 | 5 |
| 86 to 90 | 6 | 8 |
| 91 to 95 | 6 | 2 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 7 |
| 101 to 105 | 17 | 14 |
| 106 to 110 | 13 | 26 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 12 |
| 116 to 120 | 15 | 8 |
| 121 to 125 | 9 | 23 |
| 126 to 130 | 23 | 48 |
| 131 to 135 | 35 | 17 |
| 136 to 140 | 26 | 12 |
| 141 to 145 | 11 | 11 |
| 146 to 150 | 16 | 3 |
| 151 to 155 | 21 | 23 |
| 156 to 160 | 3 | 2 |
| 161 to 165 | 11 | 15 |
| 166 to 170 | 3 | 4 |
| 171 to 175 | 5 | 25 |
| 176 to 180 | 45 | 45 |
| 181 to 185 | 4 | 4 |
| 186 to 190 | 19 | 21 |
| 191 to 195 | 13 | 17 |
| 196 to 197 | 1 | 1 |
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.
KATHLEEN: Hello, Christina. It's a beautiful day. Isn't it the most beautiful day? CHRISTINA: I guess. Yeah, sure. KATHLEEN: Don't you love New York in the fall?
KATHLEEN: Good morning, Birdie. BIRDIE: What are you all talking about? CHRISTINA: Cybersex. BIRDIE: I tried to have cybersex once but I kept getting a busy signal.
BIRDIE: Is that the thing where you get cold suddenly, bang? CHRISTINA: No, that's the coup de vieux. BIRDIE: I had that.
KATHLEEN: Don't let her. I believe in this, I completely believe in this. It happened to Madame Bovary, at least six times. CHRISTINA: And she was wrong every time. KATHLEEN: Yes! Who was she?
CHRISTINA: Quel nightmare. KATHLEEN: It has nothing to do with us. It's big, impersonal, overstocked and full of ignorant salespeople.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 50 are women's.
534 lines from women, 544 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
21 women and 18 men in the cast. 13 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 57 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 50% of the words (6,115), men 50% (6,042).
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
32
Two men
38
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Nora Ephron (woman)
- Written by
- Delia Ephron (woman), Nora Ephron (woman)
- Produced by
- Lauren Shuler Donner (woman), Nora Ephron (woman)
- Shot by
- John Lindley (man)
- Edited by
- Richard Marks (man)
- Music by
- George Fenton (man)
- Production design by
- Dan Davis (man)
- Costumes by
- Albert Wolsky (man)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 12 men
-
Production
7 women, 4 men
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 2 men
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men
-
Writing
2 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Heather Burns 23, Parker Posey 30, Meg Ryan 37, Jean Stapleton 75
Men
Dave Chappelle 25, Steve Zahn 31, Greg Kinnear 35, Tom Hanks 42, Dabney Coleman 66, John Randolph 83
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $65 million
- Box office
- $251 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 197 scenes and 1,135 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
