- Director:
Jonathan Parker - AMG Rating:
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Movie Type: Workplace Comedy
- Themes: Office Politics, Success is the Best Revenge, Fighting the System
- Main Cast: David Paymer, Crispin Glover, Glenne Headly, Joe Piscopo, Maury Chaykin
- Release Year: 2001
- Country: US
- Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
Herman Melville's short story Bartleby the Scrivener gets a slightly surreal update in this offbeat comedy drama. The manager (David Paymer) of the city records department in a mid-sized California community decides that his staff of three -- flirty chatterbox Vivian (Glenne Headly), sloppy Vietnam vet Ernie (Maury Chaykin), and slick-suited, Don Juan wannabe Rocky (Joe Piscopo) -- could use some help, so he places an ad looking for a new employee. The boss ends up hiring the one and only applicant who wants the position, a quiet, pale young man named Bartleby (Crispin Glover). At first, Bartleby is a model of efficiency, but before long he loses enthusiasm for his job, much to the annoyance of his co-workers, and soon he's spending his days staring at an air conditioning vent. The Boss asks Bartleby to get back to work, but Bartleby's repeated reply to such requests is, "I prefer not to," and the Boss sees little recourse but to fire him. However, Bartleby refuses to leave his desk, and it soon becomes obvious that Bartleby has not only stopped doing his work -- he's stopped going home and has moved into the office. Bartleby was the first feature film for producer/director Jonathan Parker; he also wrote the screenplay, in collaboration with Catherine Di Napoli. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideReview
The opening credits of Bartleby begin with the bleak observation that following the publication of Bartleby the Scrivener, the story's author, Herman Melville, was relegated to obscurity and eventually died alone and destitute. This tragic fact may at first seem a mere curious observation when one considers that the author had previously penned Moby Dick, one of the greatest adventures of all time, but it becomes sadly symbolic when paralleled with the ultimate fate of Bartleby. Advertised as a zany comedy (the poster claimed "HILARIOUS!" in bold, all-capitol letters), this celluloid adaptation of Melville's dark tale of mental illness and the deadening effects of thankless rank and file employment is in fact one of the most painfully poignant and depressingly acute depictions of the soul-sucking effects of office work ever committed to film. Though thoroughly downbeat and paced accordingly, the film isn't without its affectionate quirk and knowing humor. In films such as Office Space this malaise is played solely for laughs, though Bartleby painfully and thoroughly explores the madness of indifference and the shockwave effects on the susceptible and unguarded souls who, through sympathy, leave themselves open to the same destruction. Ideally cast as the titular character who simply would "prefer not to," Crispin Glover provides the perfect embodiment of the detached rebel who refuses to comply not out of anger or dislike for his job, but out of total and complete indifference. Perfectly complimenting Glover's portrayal is David Paymer as "The Boss." Striking just the right note of frustration and sympathy to his mysterious new charge, Paymer provides the perfect contrast in the form of a boss who does more than his all to understand and help Bartleby. Rounding out the rest of the cast as the secretary and Bartleby's co-workers, respectively, Glenne Headly, Joe Piscopo, and Maury Chaykin portray the archetypes of Bartleby's bewildered and desperately distracted co-workers with just the right amount of quirk and cruelty.Likewise, Seth Asarnow's theremin-based score provides the perfect auditory accompaniment to the film's downbeat but hauntingly humorous tone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
- David Paymer - The Boss
- Crispin Glover - Bartleby
- Glenne Headly - Vivian
- Joe Piscopo - Rocky
- Maury Chaykin - Ernie
