Bartleby

Aside from a tacky epilogue, this is a surprisingly faithful (albeit updated) adaptation of Herman Melville’s eerie yet funny 1853 story about a Wall Street drudge who unexpectedly refuses to work or do anything else, meeting every request with the response, I would prefer not to. Crispin Glover seems born to play such a part, though Jonathan Parker, in his first feature, transfers the character to a drab office building on a hill overlooking a freeway, and, in keeping with the spirit of the original, makes the story just as much about the narrator, the hero’s boss (effectively played by David Paymer). The secondary castGlenne Headly, Joe Piscopo, Maury Chaykin, and Seymour Casselis equally good, and the degree to which Melville’s story registers as a kind of satire about capitalism, alienated labor, and the resistance engendered by both, hasn’t escaped anyone. Catherine di Napoli collaborated with Parker on the script. 82 min. (JR) Read more