Bartleby is a 2001 American comedy-drama film adaptation of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener". The film was directed by Jonathan Parker, and stars Crispin Glover as Bartleby, and David Paymer as his boss. The film diverges from Melville's story, setting it in a modern office and adding sitcom-style humor, but maintaining an element of surrealism.

Plot

The film opens with a brief summary of Herman Melville's life; his popularity waning after writing "Moby Dick" and "Bartleby, the Scrivener", Melville could no longer make a living as a writer and took a job as a clerk at the New York Custom House. By the time he died at age 72, almost nobody knew who he was.