Of course, the consequences of Enron's foray into funny money were quite serious, and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room does not forget the real costs of this catastrophe. While it notes the friendship between Lay and the Bush family, and details Enron's role in the California energy crisis and the political destruction of Gray Davis, the film is for the most part too journa-listically scrupulous to indulge in anything that might smack of conspiracy theorizing.
Which is not to say that its scope is narrow or the implications of its story confined to one reckless Texas company. While the audience's contempt for Lay and Skilling feels good and is duly earned, Gibney does not encourage undue smugness. Without spelling too much out, Enron suggests a widespread moral deficit underlying Enron's eventual bankruptcy. Accountants held no one to account, governments abandoned their regulatory functions, the media turned cheaters into stars and a culture of self-righteous mendacity was allowed to flourish as long as the stock prices were high.
The smart guys at Enron were clever -- and amoral -- enough to profit from those circumstances. In all likelihood, they regard themselves as scapegoats, even as the public views them as villains. It's not impossible that they are, to some extent, both.
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