On a routine drive to work, the Boss David Paymer—the unnamed manager of a public records office perched on a hill that’s completely inaccessible by foot—spots a man standing on an overpass. His office sits in a building atop that steep hill, and his small staff includes Ernest, an overweight, neurotic klutz; Rocky, who dresses and acts like a stereotypical mobster; and Vivian, a verbose, flirtatious, bluntly honest receptionist. To prepare for a predicted rise in workload, the Boss posts a fourth job, and the only applicant who shows up is the man from the overpass: Bartleby Crispin Glover.
Bartleby explains that he worked at a dead letter office for eight years until the office moved, but otherwise gives vague answers to the Boss’s questions. Bartleby’s quiet, off‑kilter demeanor unsettles the Boss, yet with no other options, he hires him. At first, Bartleby is a model employee, completing a week’s worth of work in just a few days. However, when asked to verify important documents, he refuses, delivering his signature refrain: “I would prefer not to.” The staff grow irritated as Bartleby stubbornly confines himself to the one task of filing papers and stares for long stretches at a vibrating vent above his desk. When the Boss brings a date to the office late one night, Bartleby walks in on them, and the Boss discovers that Bartleby has begun living there.
The Boss makes several attempts to reason with Bartleby and to learn something about his life, while noticing that the word “prefer” has crept into the staff’s vocabulary as well. Bartleby soon refuses to do any more filing, insisting that he has “given up working,” and the Boss fires him, giving him until Friday night to leave. When the Boss returns Monday morning, Bartleby has not left, and tension rises as one of the Boss’s associates wonders why Bartleby is still there but not working. Realizing that Bartleby threatens his reputation, the Boss relocates his office to another building, hoping to rid himself of the problem, and, before leaving, provides Bartleby with a letter of recommendation while a repairman removes a dead bird from the vent above Bartleby’s desk.
A few days later, the new owner of the old office and the Boss’s former landlord arrive, insisting that someone help with Bartleby; though he is now out of a job, Bartleby remains, sleeping in the hallway. The Boss insists that Bartleby is no longer his problem but concedes under pressure. He tries again to reason with him, offering help to find a job Bartleby would enjoy, but Bartleby declines every suggestion. After the Boss leaves, Bartleby is arrested and then released onto the streets.
Learning that Bartleby is wandering the city, the Boss searches for him and finds him weak and delirious from starvation in a homeless camp, having “preferred not to” eat anymore. In an unexpected turn, the Boss invites Bartleby to come live with him until they can make better arrangements, but Bartleby refuses this offer as well. The Boss then hurries to a nearby soup kitchen to persuade a cook to feed Bartleby, but the cook remains uncompassionate and makes him wait in a long line. By the time the Boss returns with food, Bartleby has died. Finding Bartleby’s letter of recommendation in his coat, the Boss realizes that it, too, is a dead letter and walks away in despair toward the old overpass.
Sometime later, the Boss has resigned from his job and written a memoir about his time with Bartleby. When he pitches the manuscript to a publishing agent, she finds the subject matter too depressing and refuses to publish. In a moment of defiance, the Boss demands that Bartleby’s story be told, and when the agent tells him to leave, he retorts “I would prefer not to!” The agent simply tells him to stay, and as the film ends, his gaze drifts to a vibrating vent and the image of several isolated office buildings perched atop hills like the Boss’s former home.
