Review of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) by Aaron V — 13 Oct 2014

A documentary about the rise and fall of an astonishingly successful company that thought too highly of itself to notice its fatal flaws. It serves as a classic case of groupthink and a parable of the human ego.

Interviews, news reports, recordings and narration are seamlessly weaved together for an experience of watching a huge train crash where what is happening is awful but you can't look away. Because it hits the bullseye of the human tendency to deceive and get lost in deceit.

Politically it leans to the left, going out of its way to tie the Bush administration to a terribly dishonest company. Also, it sides with California Governor Gray Davis, reducing his entire recall to the power outage problems that Enron was causing to inflate prices.

Never mind his own flaws; it's juicier to show big companies manipulating the system. But if you like documentaries and don't mind brief political commentary, it is worth the watch. (Not family friendly; Rated R).