Bartleby

Working for others. Greasing the machine. Earning a living by slowly pissing away the one life you will ever have through mindless drudgery. Shit, isn’t it?

For this reason, I generally detest office or work based comedies, be they movies, sitcoms or comics. They usually serve as nothing more than over the water-cooler fodder, merely something else to associate your pathetic existence with. “It’s so great because isn’t that just like my life?” “Yes, isn’t the wacky/fat/creepy/obnoxious/lecherous guy in it just like the wacky/fat/creepy/obnoxious/lecherous guy that we work with?”

Should you find yourself having one of these conversations with a colleague, I can thoroughly recommend a swift course of sterilisation followed by repeatedly smashing yourself in the face with a copy of the Dilbert anthology.

When I discovered that Crispin Glover had appeared in a little seen office comedy a few years ago, I approached it with more than a little apprehension. Knowing that Glover, in between being a full time genius, also has to pay the rent somehow (case in point: Charlie’s Angels), it was curiosity that won me over.

The joy begins the moment Glover appears onscreen, essentially playing himself. A public records office puts out an ad stating that “Adventurous personalities need not apply”. The one potential candidate is Bartleby, and his awkward, distant interview technique is one which I will be making Cliff Notes for. Upon being hired, he excels at his work for the first few weeks, however, slowing over time to a complete standstill when reprimanded by his employer. When questioned upon his lack of effort, or being given a direct order, Bartleby’s sole response is: “I would prefer not to.”

A simple premise, yes but over the course of the movie, Bartleby’s complete insistence that he would “Prefer not to”, slowly begins to have adverse effects on his co-workers and employer. Joe Piscopo makes a welcome return to the screen (the first thing I have seen him in since the early 1990’s) as a thuggish lout intent on solving the Bartleby issue by beating the crap out of him.

The plot develops beautifully and the movie raises far more questions than the 80 minute running time could hope to answer, but this is its overall success. Glover gives a performance which while not as articulate as some of his other offerings, provides a satisfactory and insightful delight that is rarely taken away from contemporary cinema.

The relationship between Bartleby and his boss, who is caught between wanting to strangle and hug his peculiar employee, is an important and ultimately beautiful element of the movie.

The irony of this magnificent little piece of cinema is this: that your standard office drones would neither understand, nor enjoy anything on display here. This questions why we spend most of our lives at jobs we despise, without the use of self aggrandising postmodernism or clichéd cynicism. I could try and convince you further but I would prefer not to.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.