Documentary

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

- It’s Just Business.

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

Release Date : 2005-04-22

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : 2929 ProductionsHDNet FilmsJigsaw Productions

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : Enron

Cast

Character Name : Narrator

Original Name : Peter Coyote

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : John Beard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Jim Chanos

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Dick Cheney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Carol Coale

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Gray Davis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Reggie Dees II

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Joseph Dunn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Max Eberts

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Peter Elkind

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : David Freeman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Philip Hilder

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Al Kaseweter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Bill Lerach

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Loretta Lynch

Gender : Female

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Amanda Martin-Brock

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Bethany McLean

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Mike Muckleroy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : James Nutter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : John Olson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Kevin Phillips

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : David V. Porter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Nancy Rapoport

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Harvey Rosenfield

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Mimi Swartz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Robert Traband

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Sherron Watkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Henry Waxman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Andrew Weissmann

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Colin Whitehead

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Charles Wickman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Arnold Schwarzenegger

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Tim Belden

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Bill Clinton

Gender : Male

Reviews

rsanek

@rsanek

2021-12-30

I'm surprised by the how often this movie is recommended on forums I frequent online, and the corresponding glowing Rotten Tomatoes reviews. I found the storytelling to be inconsistently paced, and there was nearly no depth to the description of actually how the fraud was perpetrated. The tie-in to California was interesting and I appreciated all of the primary content they were able to use -- company videos, recordings, etc. Still, I don't think I'd recommend this to a modern viewer.

GenerationofSwine

@GenerationofSwine

2023-01-14

From the start the documentary makes it clear that it's a hit-piece. It has a clear agenda it's pushing and the film makers don't hold back on telling the public that, yes, Enron was evil. However, honestly, despite that it was pretty fair. It actually made more of a point to detail how Enron got to the place that brought convictions rather than doing a straight hit-piece on the corporation. In other words, there is really a lot of meat on the bone here and it does a decent job of detailing the evolution of the company and why it turned out the way it did, rather than just focusing on the political mess that it created as one would have expected on a film covering this topic, and one with a fairly snarky title at that. There is a lot to learn from watching this, particularly because the scandal that engulfed the company was NOT the primary focus, but rather how it came to the scandal. And that, I really believe, is what the film should be about. It had a story to tell and it told it well, surprisingly well for a film that promised to be a hit-piece. We actually need more things like this. It was refreshing that it covered the circumstances and, most importantly, the hows rather than focusing on the results of Enrons actions. Illuminating would be the best phrase to use.