Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

  • 2005
  • R
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
19K
YOUR RATING
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall.
Play trailer2:01
7 Videos
33 Photos
DocumentaryBiographyHistory

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

  • Director
    • Alex Gibney
  • Writers
    • Alex Gibney
    • Bethany McLean
    • Peter Elkind
  • Stars
    • John Beard
    • Tim Belden
    • Barbara Boxer
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    19K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alex Gibney
    • Writers
      • Alex Gibney
      • Bethany McLean
      • Peter Elkind
    • Stars
      • John Beard
      • Tim Belden
      • Barbara Boxer
    • 49User reviews
    • 53Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 3 wins & 11 nominations total

    Videos7

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:01
    Watch Official Trailer
    Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 1
    Clip 5:03
    Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 1
    Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 3
    Clip 2:46
    Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 3
    Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 2
    Clip 3:54
    Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 2
    A League Of Ordinary Gentlemen Scene: Scene 4
    Clip 1:25
    Watch A League Of Ordinary Gentlemen Scene: Scene 4
    Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 5
    Clip 2:38
    Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 5
    Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 4
    Clip 1:14
    Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room Scene: Scene 4

    Photos33

    Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Kenneth Lay in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Mimi Swartz in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Sherron Watkins in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    James Chanos in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    George W. Bush and Kenneth Lay in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Gray Davis in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Loretta Lynch in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Kenneth Lay in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Max Eberts in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Bill Lerach in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Beard
    • Self - Former Enron Accountant
    Tim Belden
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Barbara Boxer
    Barbara Boxer
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    James Chanos
    James Chanos
    • Self - President, Kynikos Associates
    • (as Jim Chanos)
    Dick Cheney
    Dick Cheney
    • Self
    Bill Clinton
    Bill Clinton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Carol Coale
    • Self - Ex-Stock Analyst, Prudential Securities
    Peter Coyote
    Peter Coyote
    • Narrator
    Gray Davis
    Gray Davis
    • Self - Former Governor of California
    Reggie Dees II
    • Self - Young man the stripper dances in front of
    • (as Reggie Deets II)
    Joseph Dunn
    • Self - California State Senator
    Max Eberts
    Max Eberts
    • Self - Former Spokesman, Enron Energy Services
    Peter Elkind
    Peter Elkind
    • Self - Co-Author, 'The Smartest Guys in the Room'
    Andrew Fastow
    Andrew Fastow
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    David Freeman
    • Self - Former Advisor to Governor Davis
    Philip Hilder
    • Self
    Al Kaseweter
    • Self
    • Director
      • Alex Gibney
    • Writers
      • Alex Gibney
      • Bethany McLean
      • Peter Elkind
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Inside Job
    8.2
    Inside Job
    Too Big to Fail
    7.3
    Too Big to Fail
    The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
    7.2
    The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
    Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief
    8.0
    Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief
    Julie Johnson
    6.2
    Julie Johnson
    Taxi to the Dark Side
    7.5
    Taxi to the Dark Side
    Betting on Zero
    7.2
    Betting on Zero
    Dirty Money
    8.1
    Dirty Money
    Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic
    6.5
    Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic
    I'm Going to Tell You a Secret
    7.7
    I'm Going to Tell You a Secret
    Halloween: 25 Years of Terror
    7.4
    Halloween: 25 Years of Terror
    Nine Lives
    6.7
    Nine Lives

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Among the protesters who disrupt the meeting with Jeff Skilling at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club is Marla Ruzicka. The former Global Exchange activist founded CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict), which worked to help the victims of the war in Iraq. She died in Iraq on April 16, 2005, the victim of a suicide bombing.
    • Quotes

      Jeffrey Skilling: Oh I can't help myself. You know what the difference between the state of California and Titanic? And this is being webcast, and I know I'm going to regret this - at least when the Titanic went down, the lights were on.

    • Connections
      Featured in Independent Lens: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      What's He Building in There?
      Written by Tom Waits

      Jalma Music

      Performed by Tom Waits

      Courtesy of Anti/Epitaph Records

    User reviews49

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    The biggest pyramid of them all
    How did Enron become the world's largest corporate bankruptcy? A culture of greed, and fraud, coupled with an accounting system ripe for abuse, was part of it. But one also needs to understand the way that markets work (ironically, since Enron claimed to know this better than anyone else). The rise in Enron's share price had all the hallmarks of a classic pyramid scheme, whereby, if you claim to be making enough money, you can get away without proving it, because investors all want in, not out. Meanwhile, Enron bankrolled its regulators with the money it did have to stop them asking about the money it didn't. Finally, when all this was exposed, the firm was worthless, even though there had been at least some successful businesses within it, because, fundamentally, like all businesses, Enron has sold confidence and now this commodity was in very short supply; but Chief Executive Jeff Skilling's claim that "it was a classic run on the bank" is disingenuous to say the least, given that the real money that Enron did (at one time) make was earned through deliberately operating with very low reserves. 'The Smartest Guys in the Room' tells some of the story of Enron's collapse: and it's a compelling tale, although I found the use of background music rather annoying (the story is divided up into titled sections, with each section being the name of a song, which feels rather heavy-handed and obvious). But is gives a good flavour of what went on at Enron, although it doesn't go into the full details of the crooked financial transactions, and (like all the books I have read on the same subject) doesn't manage to answer the killer questions: what were, year-on-year, Enron's real profits and losses? and who knew what, when? Probably, these are impossible questions to answer: the picture that emerges is of a company where the bosses didn't want to know, everybody's job was to keep their superior happy and rich, and if you could do this, they wouldn't ask how you had managed it (or how rich you had made yourself in the process); a happy conspiracy until, eventually and inevitably, the money ran out. And as I said before, the irony is that this company that tried and failed to buck the markets was itself the high priest of market capitalism. If Enron's failure at least induces a dose of scepticism about the self-proclaimed (and invariably loaded) champions of market economics, some good at least will have emerged from what is otherwise a sorry tale.
    helpful•27
    5
    • paul2001sw-1
    • Aug 3, 2007

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 20, 2005 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • PBS
    • Languages
      • English
      • Romanian
    • Also known as
      • Enron: Những Kẻ Láu Cá
    • Filming locations
      • Houston, Texas, USA(Enron Corporation headquarters)
    • Production companies
      • Jigsaw Productions
      • 2929 Productions
      • HDNet Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,071,700
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $76,639
      • Apr 24, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,854,164
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
    Top Gap
    What is the French language plot outline for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.