Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

(2005)

★ 7.2 IMDb · 307 votes

Genres: Documentary

Year: 2005

Runtime: 110 мин

Country: United States of America

Director: Алекс Гибни

Cast: Питер Койот, John Beard, Jim Chanos, Дик Чейни, Carol Coale, Gray Davis, Reggie Dees II, Joseph Dunn, Max Eberts, Peter Elkind

Plot

A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall.

Enron dives from the seventh largest US company to bankruptcy in less than a year in this tale told chronologically. The emphasis is on human drama, from suicide to 20,000 people sacked: the personalities of Ken Lay (with Falwellesque rectitude), Jeff Skilling (he of big ideas), Lou Pai (gone with $250 M), and Andy Fastow (the dark prince) dominate. Along the way, we watch Enron game California's deregulated electricity market, get a free pass from Arthur Andersen (which okays the dubious mark-to-market accounting), use greed to manipulate banks and brokerages (Merrill Lynch fires the analyst who questions Enron's rise), and hear from both Presidents Bush what great guys these are.