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You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Movies / Enron Movie

Enron Movie

by John Cole|  April 6, 20056:35 pm| 4 Comments

This post is in: Movies

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I was lucky enough to get my hands on a preview copy of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and, if you have two hours to invest, I highly recommend heading to the theatres in a few weeks when it opens.

Some quick stuff about the aesthetics- the movie is beautifully produced, moving from interview to interview seamlessly, all the while narrated by Peter Coyote and featuring an eclectic array of popular music that always seems perfect for the scene. An example of how fitting the music was- when the entire house of cards has fallen, and the company is bankrupt and the tale has been told in all its sordid nastiness, the credits roll. And who better to sum up the attitude that a sane person has to have about the tragic tale of Enron than Tom Waits:

There’s a leak, there’s a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God’s away, God’s away
God’s away on business, business
God’s away, God’s away on business, business

And really, that about sums up what caused Enron, at least from the perspective of this documentary. For those of you who might have been casual observers of L’ Affaire Enron, the film will chronicle the whole psychotic underbelly of Enron, complete with the institutional neuroses, the greed-induced binging and purging, the outright lying, and the conspiracies that spread through the legal, banking, and investment communities to prop up Enron and help to continue the facade.

For those of you who want a 2 hour Bush bashing festival- this is not your movie. The documentary fairly chronicles the unprecedented Bush family ties and the other excesses and cronyism that went on, but it is not unfair. If anything, it is underplayed. Also surprising is how sympathetic Ken Lay appears- the real villains, as you will learn, are Fastow and Skilling. This does not excuse Lay, as their is ample guilt to go around.

At any rate, I highly recommend this film. Go watch it.

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4Comments

  1. 1.

    David Tonsall (aka NRun)

    April 24, 2005 at 6:33 am

    visit the website. I worked at the crooked e. And am wondering what else or what other spin they can put on these corporate crooks. I read the theres a leak theres a leak and remembered the cover-up that I was hired in to fix. See National Transportation Safety Board report # PB97-916501 NTSB/PAR/9701. (as Micheal Franks would say I put all on wax, to be told one day) _uck a leak in the boiler room there was crack in the foundation.

  2. 2.

    Andrew Coffey

    May 2, 2005 at 11:43 am

    I saw the movie over the weekend and I liked it. As a broker it really hit home. I did a podcast wih a few brokers at a Cuban resturant and we talked about it over lunch. I like your blog set up
    Andrew
    http://www.exit50.com

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Balloon Juice says:
    January 30, 2006 at 10:19 am

    […] BTW- if you have not, make sure you rent Enron- The Smartest Guys in the Room. It is out on DVD, and my review is here. […]

  2. Balloon Juice says:
    August 19, 2007 at 9:33 am

    […] 3.) Picked up a few films from a friend at a BBQ yesterday afternoon, and I will be watching them throughout the day while I clean the house. One is a classic that I am embarrassed to admit I have never seen- The Rules of the Game. Long time readers are aware that my favorite movie form is the documentary, and I also borrowed two more pieces of subversive media: Why We Fight and Terrorstorm. Additionally, I still owe you all reviews of Cities of Light and No End in Sight. Perhaps one day this week I can do a mass review. […]

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