Independent Lens S08E22 - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

  • Home
  • Movies
  • TV Series
  • Latest Episodes
  • Popular Now
  • Trending Movies
  • Trending TV Shows

Featured TV Seasons

  • The Rookie – Season 8
  • The Ms. Pat Show – Season 5
  • Spartacus: House of Ashur – Season 1
  • The Traitors – Season 4
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – Season 11
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers – Season 13
  • Landman – Season 2
  • The Simpsons – Season 37
  • Midsomer Murders – Season 24
  • Beyond the Gates – Season 2
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race – Season 18
  • The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City – Season 6

Enron dives from the seventh largest US company to bankruptcy in less than a year in this tale told chronologically. The emphasis is on human drama, from suicide to 20,000 people sacked: the personalities of Ken Lay (with Falwellesque rectitude), Jeff Skilling (he of big ideas), Lou Pai (gone with $250 M), and Andy Fastow (the dark prince) dominate. Along the way, we watch Enron game California's deregulated electricity market, get a free pass from Arthur Andersen (which okays the dubious mark-to-market accounting), use greed to manipulate banks and brokerages (Merrill Lynch fires the analyst who questions Enron's rise), and hear from both Presidents Bush what great guys these are.

Genres: Documentary

Cast

  • Susan Sarandon
  • Peter Coyote
  • America Ferrera
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal
  • Stanley Tucci