Dylan Brown I'll be the first to say, that I'm not totally clued up on the world of business, especially in terms of utilities and power, but I have to say that this film is a highly informative and hard hitting film that anyone, no matter what their interest, should find highly compelling.At it's heart, it exploits the downfalls and pitfalls of the Enron Corporation - arguably the most catastrophic bankruptcy in the history of the united states, with the redundancies of tens of thousands of employees worldwide, the crashing of stock (which it should be added staff heavily invested their own personal funds and pensions in), but not all before the MD's had all cashed in at it's amazingly high price.It contains past-employees accounts of the way the corporation was run, their opinions on Jeff Skilling and the fact that, at the hear of it, several senior figures within the company knew of it's downfalls. It makes for very compelling viewing at this 'highly stylised', which was nothing more than a very, very large pyramid scheme.At the start, I probably would've given this title a miss, but honestly, just watch a few minutes and I'm sure you'll be lured in - it makes for very interesting viewing.

KineticSeoul I had to watch this movie for extra credit in one of my classes and it was well worth it. This is a well crafted documentary that will keep most viewers attention, especially if you like documentaries. When it came down to it this movie was basically about greed and how it can lead to downfall. One of the biggest company in the past went bankrupt in just 24 days because the higher ups fell so hard because there motives was all about making money. The movie shows when it comes to money how people can change even if there motives start out good. That is why a company that went from 10 billion to around 60 billion dollars worth ended up going bankrupt. The big question I had a lot when it came to people talking about Enron was. Who is responsible for the downfall of Enron and this documentary did a pretty good job of explaining that. Another thing that makes this documentary understandable and even relatable to some viewers is how it gives vivid and relevant examples. Gas is still very important in our society and it even showed how natural gas in the stock market and be corrupted. But what really got my attention was how the so called the smartest guys in the room made some dumb mistakes and decisions because of greed despite how much they had. Overall this is a good documentary that is worth seeing, especially for those who are planning to enter the business world.7.8/10

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) Shock. That is the primary feeling this film will elicit in you. Shock at such blatant unethical misconduct on such a powerful corporate level. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a documentary that chronicles the rise and fall of Enron, an energy company that practically ruled the world at one point due to fraud and faulty business practices that led to its eventual demise. The film is told through interviews with people who were at one point involved with Enron or have studied Enron to find out what made it fail. The evidence compiled so coherently in this film is sickening as it paints a perfect portrait of the lengths that corporate greed goes to. The film details a tragedy that not only deals with the economics of this corporation, but the psychological aspects that went into the process of such unethical practices.This film is structured very well and I commend it for its use of a purely chronological telling of the story of Enron. It starts from Enron's beginnings and its first steps up the ladder of success. It then continues to detail the company's growing success and how it all affected the stock market, all the while throwing in hints that misconduct was occurring amidst this seemingly perfect achievement. The finally the film starts to detail just where everything was going wrong and the moral code of the players in this film begin to crumble. We see every last bit of fraud and it is honestly quite frightening to see just how terrible some of the people working at Enron were. This of course all leads to Enron's downfall and the film strongly emphasizes just how hard this hit the economic world.Over the course of this film there is a lot of political and economic jargon thrown our way, and it can be a little difficult to keep up with. But overall it isn't difficult to get the gist of everything that is going on here, and by the end of the film it is easy to see just how bad these people are. There's nothing to make you question the validity of this film because, quite frankly, the facts are all laid out on the table before us and the director just connects the dots for us. And once the whole picture is put together it is absolutely stunning. Fraud on all different levels becomes evident, which is why the Enron scandal is considered to be the biggest corporate scandal in history, and rightfully so.If I had one tiff with this film it would be the interviewees. Gibney, the director of the film, interviews some very important and legitimate people, yet they are all on his side. I would have liked to see more people interviewed that were on Enron's side in order to get the situation from their point of view. Of course it is easy to decline an interview for a film that is going to chronicle the role you played in the biggest corporate scandal ever, so I can't blame the film itself for this issue. Plus, a lot of the people who could have been against Gibney in his argument are in jail or were in jail at the time this film was made. I would say that Gibney makes the most out of what he had, but where the real engaging content of this film comes from is really the archival footage from the news, trials, and even secret videotapes with incriminating evidence and just how well Gibney puts it all together.This is a fascinating documentary that frustrates as much as it intrigues. The Enron scandal is a complicated tale, but Gibney tells it in a very coherent and straightforward way that is as fascinating as it is shocking. Documentary filmmaking is an art, and Alex Gibney proves this by making true engaging art out of a story full of business and economics. This is a great film that tells a sickening story.

Dave Tedel Overall I found this to be a decent recap of the Enron saga, or at least the pre-trial portion thereof. However the film is necessarily simplistic, and there's a high dose of cable-documentary cheese (re- enacted funerals, gratuitous topless dancers, inappropriate Oingo Boingo songs, etc.) I have not read the McLean/Elkind book yet but just re-watched this DVD. A few of their interviewees are irrelevant (Kevin Phillips; a consumer watchdog person; the local priest). For some reason it is never explained that the blonde with the Merchant-Ivory accent arrived via Vinson Elkins, attorneys at law, although I think this is rather an important tidbit. With your average Mark Cuban production you could do far worse; I predict it will go over big with assistant professors of sociology in Santa Monica.Rolled my eyes at the part about The Milgram Experiment, but did get a good laugh when the narrator described Gray Davis as a "then-likely Presidential candidate"