Viewed in
2010
Formats
Netflix streaming (Xbox 360)
Premise
A documentary about criminal behavior by top Enron executives that led to their (and the company's) demise.
Liked
The story-telling.
Disliked
The on-the-nose music choices.
Thoughts
A very well-done documentary.
The film makers did a good job of letting the facts, footage and interviews drive the story in a very fair and clear method. An inferior director would have made it manipulative, exploiting the pain of the innocent employees and investors. Instead, it was detailed yet efficient. A chronological breakdown from humble beginnings, to conniving strategies, to "inmates running the asylum" nightmare.
Citing numerous sources and evidence, the film showed the terror of greed, power, and deregulation at its worst. Watching this in 2010, the themes of unwatched corruption, loophole maneuvering, wanton gambling, and flat out lies still run rampant in current business/political scandals.
Obviously, I learned a lot. As a Californian, I never knew that Enron were responsible for the state's rolling blackouts in the late 1990's. The extent of Enron's actions were much larger than I realized, from California's economy, to government business policies, to the fall of Enron's partners. There was also some interesting evidence revealing the company's ties to both President Bush's, though thankfully this was not a smear campaign against them.
My biggest issue was the music choices during transitions. It was distracting that it kept choosing pop songs that "perfectly" fit what they were showing.
In this end, this was a well-told and detailed account about how these people took advantage of the system and political climate to become all too powerful business entities, and ruin so many lives. Just like how too much regulation is bad, Enron's tale was a powerful illustration of the problems of deregulation gone wild.
What I would change
Taken out the part that claims Enron's action led to Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming California governor. They made a strong case for it, but it was still a bit of a stretch.
