Review of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) by Wk J — 06 Mar 2008

Must say I found this film to be very disappointing. Instead of the deep investigation or analysis on how Enron came to pass that I was expecting, significant portions were devoted to highlighting personal flaws that, presumably, are intended to show how bad these people were. For example, one segment dealt in length with the "extreme" trips that Skilling took, sometimes with others in the company. Do the writers seriously expect viewers to then conclude that those who, for example, participate in extreme sports are far too risky to participate in corporate governance? If not, then what's the point? Also disappointing was the superficial analysis that leads one to believe (incorrectly, imho) that mark to market accounting is an accident waiting to happen, whereas the real issue in Enron was not that method of accounting, but the ludicrous ways in which "market" values were assigned.

And the greed of traders? Seriously, you're kidding right? If that in and of itself is a problem, well, we're all in serious trouble, because you're not likely to find many Mother Theresas trading pork bellies on the CME. Rather than having us listen to sound snippets from boneheaded young turks verbally fluffing each other, I would have been much more interested in how they managed to get away with what one thought would have been flagrantly criminal conduct (shutting down Enron-owned power plants to create profit opportunities) - sure we get the sound bite evidencing how they do it, but nothing, zero, on how they got away with it, not to mention how the rules (assuming of course there were any rules) could have permitted a company to both control power plants and profit by trading in the very same market supplied by said plants!

And then, to top it all off, the executives and former employees (other than those at the top who were thrown in jail), all big eyed and "gee whiz" in their recounting of their stories, like innocent sheep that had been led to slaughter. More interesting would have been an exploration on how so many employees, auditors, consultants and lawyers - and no, not firms or companies - but rather individual people - how many individuals looked the other way, or contributed their little part to facilitate this disaster, and yet at the end of the day, sit around and go "gee, maybe I should have done something..." and to what extent (if any) they should be held accountable.