Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Review

A stylish and informative expose of greed.

In 2001, the financial world was rocked by the collapse of Texan energy giant, Enron. Journalists Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind investigated how it happened in their best-selling book, Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room ' the basis for the documentary by writer/director Alex Gibney.

This stylish and thoroughly informative documentary clearly maps out the events that set Enron on the path to bankruptcy. Even though founder Ken Lay and CEO Jeff Skilling refused to be interviewed, Gibney uncovered more than enough news footage and insider videos to expose the questionable practices that propelled this company to the top of the corporate food chain. With additional interviews from other executives, a whistle blower and taped phone conversations the story is told straight from the horse's mouth.

This film is so riveting and entertaining, it's hard to believe you're watching a documentary, and not a fictional feature like Wall Street. Its dramatisations, title cards and music stings interplay with a dark and sarcastic narration by Peter Coyote to paint a picture of corporate greed that is still adversely affecting people some four years later. Doesn't that just make your blood boil?