La verdad sobre el caso Enron

This movie is a decently entertaining depiction of the fall of Enron, which was one of our nation's leading companies. It's based on the point of view of a recent University of Texas MBA grad, who gets hired in the bankruptcy division of Enron. For people who didn't follow the scandal, the movie does a solid job of illustrating why greed led to Enron's demise. With shareholders and upper management demanding better numbers (and thus better stock value), everyone was under pressure to cook the books.

There is some comedy in the movie (the Arthur Anderson audit team is always playing nerf basketball or computer golf; one of the characters gets a job at Worldcom after being laid off at Enron). However, being a TV movie, there is not much time for character depth. Did anyone really feel for the woman who lost her college savings in Enron stock? Also, I understand the producers were looking for star power, but Shannon Elizabeth did not belong in this movie. She is far too pretty to be playing a down-to-earth farm girl who hates the glamorous life her fiance brings her. Overall, this is a watch able movie for those that are interested in business.

This movie was a true tale of the rise and fall of one of the top ten companies in the world. The reason for the fall? None other than GREED. The story is told through the eyes of a former employee who had first had info in the dealing. This movie had several great actor in it from Brian Denny to Shannon Elizabeth who role of an Enron Mans woman is the best she done to date. The role of salesman was played by upstart actor Anthony Hibbs and was a true testament to how sales should be done. The entire movie goes into great detail to how the plan was executed and how it fell apart. This movie is a true must see!

Having had ambitions since a being young man, Brian Cruver is fired up when he gets a desk at Enron – one the largest companies in America. After taking a bit of time to come to terms with the approach and working style of the place, Cruver quickly settles in and makes a name for himself with some big deals, perhaps being helped a bit by knowing Mr Blue, one of the top men in the company.

With Kenneth Lay dead mere months after being found guilty, the Natwest Three becoming a major political football in UK/US relations and one of the bankers found dead six days after going missing, my interest in the subject was peaked enough to look back on this film from a few years ago. The downside of my timing was that I had already seen the imperfect but vastly superior Smartest Guy in the Room. As a documentary, this other film focuses on developing the main story and presenting it as clearly as possible. It also benefits hugely from having access to the in-house video footage that this film can only dramatise. Conversely this film takes a dramatisation path that means by default it has to focus on the made-up character of Cruver and his story as much as on the story of Enron. To some viewers this will work but I suggest that these people have not seen Smartest Guys.

This film does a so-so job of explaining the story but it is happy to do it in massive jumps and simplifications that don't give you the time to let them sink in more than you need to keep Cruver's story moving forward. It delivers the impact of the story pretty basically as well – having women crying about their lost money etc. The focus on Cruver doesn't really work because you can't shake the feeling (the knowledge) that his story is infinitely less interesting than the wider story of the corporation and its impact on business. It is made weaker by the TVM style delivery which works "best" overdoing the soapy emotion of the tale but cannot cope with the complex case and the wider ramifications. The direction is so-so and the budget limited – although in fairness Smartest Guys used the real offices and real footage, so this can't compare.

The cast are roundly weak, which isn't that much of a surprise. Kane is bland and never convinces no matter what his character is going through. Sure his material isn't that good but his performance is no better. Elizabeth is a "big name" in this film and to the vast majority of us alarm bells will be ringing – she has little to do either way. Dennehy turns in with a poor character that is used to explain things in the place of a decent script and his lack of interest is writ large across his performance. The rest of the cast are so-so at best but few convince and Farrell and Wynne are particularly weak.

Overall this is an entry-level film if you are looking to learn more about power, corporations – much better is Smartest Guys. In the absence of that film this might be worth a look but it is hard to get a lot of value from this very soapy approach. Works as daytime fodder but the truth deserves much, much more than this.

Thought this film was reasonable,it gave me a better understanding of what really happened....and i would suggest to anyone who is not clear as to the reason for Enrons demise,that they watch this film and get wise. I will be buying Brian Cruver's book as i think he should at least make a little cash out of all this!

They probably needed better promo for this movie that made it a bit more clear, that it is a movie about the true life story of Brian Culver, not an overall story about what happened at Enron.

This is from the point of view of one and his experience in the company. I am sure there was much more to his story that could not be fit into the time frome of the length of a movie.

"Anatomy of Greed" (2002) You may want to check it out!

I went into thinking I wasn't going to like it. I wasn't interested in what happened at Enron, but I am a #Kaniac= fan of Christian Kane, so I gave it watch!!

I enjoyed it more than expected! Love Brian Dennehy as well!.

This movie may be a little slow going for people of today (2024) So folks need to take that into consideration when viewing, that it was made in 2003 and the story is based around one man!

Christian Kane as always rocked his role! I highly recommend it!