IMDb > "Independent Lens" Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
"Independent Lens: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (#8.22)"
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"Independent Lens" Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)


Videos (see all 3 NEW)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room: Season 8: Episode 22 -- Corporate audio and videotapes tell the inside story of the scandal involving one company's manipulation of California's energy supply and its, and how its executives wrung a billion dollars out of the resulting crisis.
"Independent Lens" (1999): Season 8: Episode 22 -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)
"Independent Lens" (1999): Season 8: Episode 22 -- Virgin.net Movies - Trailer (WMP)

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   4,156 votes
Director:
Alex Gibney
Writers (WGA):
Bethany McLean (book) and
Peter Elkind (book) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room on IMDbPro.
Original Air Date:
January 2005 (Season 8, Episode 22)
Genre:
Documentary more
Tagline:
It's Just Business
Plot:
Corporate audio and videotapes tell the inside story of the scandal involving one company's manipulation of California's energy supply and its, and how its executives wrung a billion dollars out of the resulting crisis. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
2 wins & 8 nominations more
User Comments:
An American Tragedy more (75 total)

Cast

  (Episode Credited cast)

Peter Coyote ... Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Beard ... Himself
Barbara Boxer ... Herself (archive footage)

George W. Bush ... Himself
Jim Chanos ... Himself
Dick Cheney ... Himself

Bill Clinton ... Himself (archive footage)
Carol Coale ... Herself
Gray Davis ... Himself
Reggie Dees II ... Young man the stripper dances in front of (as Reggie Deets II)
Joseph Dunn ... Himself
Max Eberts ... Himself
Peter Elkind ... Himself
Andrew Fastow ... Himself
David Freeman ... Himself
Philip Hilder ... Himself
Al Kaseweter ... Himself
Kenneth Lay ... Himself

Jay Leno ... Himself (archive footage)
Bill Lerach ... Himself
Loretta Lynch ... Herself
Amanda Martin-Brock ... Herself
Bethany McLean ... Herself
Mike Muckleroy ... Himself
Reverend James Nutter ... Himself
John Olson ... Himself
Lou L. Pai ... Himself
Kevin Phillips ... Himself
David V. Porter ... "David" a Quoted Enron Trader

Nancy Rapoport ... Herself
Harvey Rosenfield ... Himself
Marla Ruzicka ... Herself (archive footage)

Arnold Schwarzenegger ... Himself (archive footage)

Maria Shriver ... Herself (archive footage)
Jeff Skilling ... Himself
Mimi Swartz ... Herself
Robert Traband ... Himself
Sherron Watkins ... Herself
Henry Waxman ... Himself
Andrew Weissman ... Himself
Colin Whitehead ... Himself
Charles Wickman ... Himself
more
Series Cast
These people are regular cast members. Were they in this episode?

Angela Bassett ... Host
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Independent Lens: Enron: Rise and Fall (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some nudity.
Runtime:
109 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Filming Locations:
Houston, Texas, USA more
Company:
HDNet Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Among the protesters who disrupt the meeting with Jeff Skilling at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club is Marla Ruzicka, who was killed on 16 April 2005 in Iraq by a suicide bomber. She founded CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict) which worked to help the victims of the war in Iraq and she was a former Global Exchange activist. more
Quotes:
Gray Davis: [upon being asked whether the rumors that he was responsible for the black outs in California are just a plot by the Republican party to get him recalled]
[shouts]
Gray Davis: Hello!
more
Movie Connections:
Features "The Simpsons" (1989) more
Soundtrack:
Californication more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
An American Tragedy, 9 August 2005
10/10
Author: writeon_susan

This film is a profoundly entertaining chronicle of American corporate power run amok. Profound because as it dramatizes the rise and fall of Enron, the film casts a longer shadow over the still largely unchanged corporate environment that spawned this smoke and mirrors company. Entertaining due to clever use of storytelling devices, imagery and soundtrack, despite what looks to be a low budget.

The film's strength is in its portrait of the massive "group think" inside and outside of the corporation that supported Enron's rise. It is astounding and chilling to look back on the cheer leading role played by banks, financial media, accounting firms and government. And though Enron, the film, may be weak on explaining how the company built itself up from a simple gas pipeline business to a post-modern corporate megalith, it was probably a wise choice to leave detailed descriptions of the financial manipulations to the book of the same name. The film, does though, miss an opportunity early on to provide a basic explanation of the central paradox of Enron -- earning heaps of money by exploiting commodities trading and accounting methods, while losing heaps of money in real world ventures. Enron set up its first commodities trading desk to capitalize on inside knowledge of the gas business, and then tried to replicate this model with water, broadband, electricity, etc. In actually a trading firm, Enron evaded investment firm regulations by portraying itself as an industrial firm.

Yet, despite some shortcomings, the storytelling is powerful, especially the eye-opening dramatization of Enron's role and the political manipulations behind the California energy-crisis. After viewing the suffering of average Californians, juxtaposed against the callousness of Enron's West Coast energy traders, it felt good to see Kenneth Lay walking in handcuffs.

More than once, the phrase, "this can happen again," echos in the film. It has happened before -- leveraged buyouts, the Savings and Loan crisis, the burst Internet IPO bubble, the 1920s Stock Market crash. A new financial vehicle generates untold riches for some, goes bust, and millions, sometimes billions ... disappear. Enron, the film, is the textbook on how one corporation recently stole from investors, employees and its "customers."

Ask why do we keep on letting this happen.

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