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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

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"The Smartest Guys in the Room" redirects here. For the 2003 book by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, see The Smartest Guys in the Room (book).

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlex Gibney
Written byAlex Gibney
Based on The Smartest Guys in the Room
by Bethany McLean
Peter Elkind
Produced by
Narrated byPeter Coyote
CinematographyMaryse Alberti
Edited byAlison Ellwood
Music byMatthew Hauser
Production
companies
Distributed byMagnolia Pictures
Release date
  • April 22, 2005 (2005-04-22)
[2]
Running time
109 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$700,000[4]
Box office$4.9 million[5]

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a 2005 American documentary film based on the best-selling 2003 book of the same name by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, who are credited as writers of the film alongside the director, Alex Gibney. It examines the 2001 collapse of the Enron Corporation, which resulted in criminal trials for several of the company's top executives during the ensuing Enron scandal, and contains a section about the involvement of Enron traders in the 2000-01 California electricity crisis. Archival footage is used alongside new interviews with McLean and Elkind, several former Enron executives and employees, stock analysts, reporters, and former Governor of California Gray Davis.

The film won the awards for Best Documentary Feature at the 21st Independent Spirit Awards and Best Documentary Screenplay at the 58th Writers Guild of America Awards.[6] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 78th Academy Awards.[7][8]

Synopsis[edit]

(The fjokjaksdf in my room) is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures,[a] it is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by Joss Whedon, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the Avengers, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury and the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton to form a team capable of stopping Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth.

The film's development began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011 and would bring together Stark (Downey), Rogers (Evans), Banner (at the time portrayed by Edward Norton),[b] and Thor (Hemsworth) from Marvel's previous films. With the signing of Johansson as Romanoff in March 2009, Renner as Barton in June 2010, and Ruffalo replacing Norton as Banner in July 2010, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the original screenplay by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in August and New York City in September. The film has more than 2,200 visual effects shots.

The Avengers premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on April 11, 2012, and was released in the United States on May 4, as the final film in Phase One of the MCU. The film received praise for Whedon's direction and screenplay, visual effects, action sequences, acting, and musical score. It grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, setting numerous box office records and becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release and the highest-grossing film of 2012. It was the first Marvel production to generate $1 billion in ticket sales. In 2017, The Avengers was featured as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in an Empire magazine poll. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 85th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. Three sequels have been released: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Cast[edit]

  • Peter Coyote, narrator
  • Bethany McLean, Fortune reporter; co-author, The Smartest Guys in the Room
  • Peter Elkind, co-author, The Smartest Guys in the Room
  • Sherron Watkins, ex-vice president, Enron Corp.; Enron whistleblower; co-author, Power Failure
  • Mimi Swartz, executive editor, Texas Monthly magazine; co-author, Power Failure
  • Mike Muckleroy, former Enron executive
  • Amanda Martin, former Enron executive
  • Charles Wickman, former Enron trader
  • Colin Whitehead, former Enron trader
  • John Beard, former Enron accountant
  • Max Eberts, former spokesman, Enron Energy Services
  • Carol Coale, senior vice president and senior research analyst, Prudential Securities
  • Bill Lerach, attorney for Enron stockholders
  • Gray Davis, former governor of California
  • David Freeman, former advisor to governor Davis
  • Philip H. Hilder, Sherron Watkins' attorney

Reception[edit]

The Asgardian Loki encounters the Other, the leader of an extraterrestrial race known as the Chitauri. In exchange for obtaining the Tesseract,[c] a powerful energy source of unknown potential, the Other promises to provide Loki with an army to conquer Earth. Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility where physicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a team studying the Tesseract. It suddenly activates and opens a wormhole, allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki steals the Tesseract and uses his scepter to enslave Selvig and other agents, including Clint Barton, to aid him.

In response, Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative". Agent Natasha Romanoff travels to Kolkata to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner so he can trace the Tesseract through its gamma radiation emissions. Fury approaches Steve Rogers to discuss his knowledge of the Tesseract, and Agent Phil Coulson visits Tony Stark so he can check Selvig's research. Loki is in Stuttgart, where Barton steals iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract. This leads to a confrontation with Rogers, Stark, and Romanoff that ends with Loki's surrender. While Loki is being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D., his adoptive brother Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. Stark and Rogers intervene, and Loki is imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier.

The Avengers disagree on how to approach Loki and become argumentative once they realize S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to use the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction for use against hostile extraterrestrials. During the argument, Loki's agents attack the Helicarrier, and the stress causes Banner to transform into the Hulk. Stark and Rogers restart the damaged engine while Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage. Romanoff subdues Barton, freeing him from Loki's influence. Loki escapes after killing Coulson. Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers to work together as a team. Loki uses the Tesseract and a generator Selvig built to open a wormhole above Stark Tower in New York City to bring his Chitauri fleet and start his invasion.

Rogers, Stark, Romanoff, Barton, Thor, and the Hulk work together to protect New York from the Chitauri. The Hulk incapacitates Loki while Romanoff learns from Selvig, now freed from Loki's mind control, that Loki's scepter can shut down the generator. Fury's superiors from the World Security Council attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Midtown Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and flies it through the wormhole, toward the Chitauri fleet. The missile destroys the Chitauri mothership and disables their forces on Earth. Stark becomes unconscious, and his suit loses power, leaving him freefalling towards Earth. The Avengers manage to resuscitate him, while Romanoff uses Loki's scepter to close the wormhole. In the aftermath, Thor transports an imprisoned Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, where Loki will face Asgardian justice.

In a mid-credits scene, the Other confers with his master[d] about the failed attack on Earth.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. ^ PopMatters
  3. ^ "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room". British Board of Film Classification. May 11, 2005. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  4. ^ Kirsner, Scott (December 1, 2005). "Maverick Mogul". Fast Company. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  5. ^ "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)". Box Office Mojo. September 29, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  6. ^ "WGA docu nods to 'Enron'". variety.com. Variety. February 1, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  7. ^ "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2004)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on January 13, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  8. ^ 2006|Oscars.org

External links[edit]

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