Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk

“Lou Pai left Enron with more money than anyone, because he sold all his stock after he divorced his wife to marry his stripper girlfriend who was having his child."

Nominated for an Oscar, this is the story of the collapse of Enron, formally the seventh largest company in the United States. The executives of the company walked away with over a billion dollars while the employees, customers and partners of the company were left out of pocket. The documentary shows that the directors knew exactly what they were doing as they used creative accounting, loopholes and fake energy shortages to maximise profits.

The film version of the book of the same name, written by respected Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkand, this documentary makes it clear throughout that the collapse of Enron is the story of people and not just dodgy accounting methods or financial records. It’s almost a Greek tragedy which according to the documentary, because people are to blame, this could happen again.

The first thing that should be said is that this is not a Michael Moore documentary, this is very much an old school point and shoot film, the filmmakers point the camera at the witnesses and interweave videos from Enron and news organisations across the U.S. to tell the story themselves. It’s amazing that Enron got away with what they were doing for so long, and that so many people knew what was going on.

“Ken Lay did have easy access to the Bush Administration…"

Although this movie has some amusing points, the filmmakers show how Ken Lay and the other directors of Enron twist the political system and the markets to their advantage as well as their close relationship with the Bush family and administration.

Enron defrauded thousands of people out of their jobs and savings and it’s hard not to be moved by the human tragedy that has unfolded. Watching the Enron directors defend their greed will undoubtedly leave you feel angry that nothing more was done to stop this, the biggest fraud in American corporate history.

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