Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (13 Oct. 2005)

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.

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writers:

Bethany McLean (book), Peter Elkind (book),

Stars:

Peter Coyote, John Beard, Barbara Boxer

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

Storyline

Based on the best-selling book of the same name by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, a multidimensional study of one of the biggest business scandals in American history. The chronicle takes a look at one of the greatest corporate disasters in history, in which top executives from the 7th largest company in this country walked away with over one billion dollars, leaving investors and employees with nothing. The film features insider accounts and rare corporate audio and video tapes that reveal colossal personal excesses of the Enron hierarchy and the utter moral vacuum that posed as corporate philosophy. The human drama that unfolds within Enron's walls resembles a Greek tragedy and produces a domino effect that could shape the face of our economy and ethical code for years to come.

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Plot Keywords:

california | greed | bush | manipulation | business | 

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Taglines:

It's Just Business

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2005 (Australia)

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$76,639 (USA) (22 April 2005)

Gross:

$4,064,421 (USA) (16 September 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

HDNet Films, Jigsaw Productions, 2929 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Quotes

Kenneth Lay: [Enron Executive Officer Ken Lay holds a meeting of investors after shady financial dealings of the company have recently been revealed] We're down to questions, and I've got a few of 'em here... I would like to know if you are on crack... If so, that would explain a lot, if not, you may want to start because it's going to be a long time before we trust you again.

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Crazy Credits

Special thanks includes "all the `Deep Throats' - you know who you are!"

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Connections

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)

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Soundtracks

"California Sun"
Written by Henry Glover and Morris Levy
Used by permission of EMI Virgin Songs, Inc.
d/b/a EMI Longitude Music
Performed by Los Straitjackets
Courtesy of Calvalcade/Yep Rock Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

Wow - gotta see it again to believe it!

I caught this documentary by chance on HDNET. I was VERY surprised and riveted for the two hours. Finance is my life. I am astounded at the massive amount of apparent complicity on parade with this story. The tremendous greed and bold face lies demonstrated as the story took its turns are the makings of the best thriller novels (sadly, this brings new meaning to "Reality TV"). I've been thinking about this since Friday: these are some of our best and brightest - what ever happened to their ethics, their honesty? It appears that too many were compromised get get their piece of the action. Big Action!~ I have the feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg at Enron - however, the movie is a tremendous collection of some VERY interesting events. Hats off to Bethany, Peter and Alex for a great movie.