Synopsis:

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.

Brian's Rating: C- : We all remember the Enron thing.  It was on the news almost as much as Princess Diana's car crash.  Although, for some reason most of us never remember the facts about this one due to the fact that the unfolding story was cutoff at the knees with the 9/11 disaster.

The movie does a good job of journalistic investigation of the case.  It is like watching a Dateline NBC episode.  It is almost astounding that a business could be run the way it was and they could get away with it to the point they did.  However, it is sadly not surprising.  In fact, it only makes you wonder what other crap corporate America is pulling as we speak.  I would not say it was an eye-opener for me, but then again, I am cynical and jaded. 

The movie was good enough to keep my attention, although when it was done, I wish I would have used the time to watch a couple more episodes from BSG: Season 3.  However I would recommend it to anybody that wants a good summary of what happened without having to dig through countless internet articles.

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