PARK CITY -- Watching the downfall of Enron is like staring at a car wreck on the highway--it's ugly but you can't take you eyes off of it. It's not as if anyone doesn't know what happened, but to see the sleek edifice of power and wealth laid bare is shattering. This is one emperor that truly didn't have any clothes. "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" is not only a great cautionary tale, it's a civics lesson that should be seen by every concerned citizen.

Based on the best-selling book "The Smartest Guys in the Room" by Fortune magazine reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, Alex Gibney's documentary is a carefully constructed dissection of what went so terribly wrong at the seventh-largest corporation in the country. The starting point is the suicide of Enron executive Cliff Baxter in January 2002, from there the film backtracks to explore how the whole thing had been put together like a house of cards and came crashing down.

While the doc is full of juicy information and facts and figures a plenty, Gibney makes a point of keeping it on a human scale so that it is a story of personal greed, arrogance and pride as much as it is corporate malfeasance. At the center of the action, of course, is Kenneth Lay, the son of a Baptist preacher and friend to the president. Although Lay and his hand-picked CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not agree to be interviewed for the film, Gibney has impressively uncovered a treasure trove of archival material, some of it confidential company videos and audios.

Founded in 1985, Enron showed telltale signs almost from the start. In 1987 company traders were accused of padding their own accounts. Lay let it slide, setting a standard for future operations. The company motto, "Ask Why?" now seems ironic, but for years Enron managed to fool the best minds in the country, including Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is seen giving Lay an award for distinguished public service.

Skilling, the architect of much of the company's polices, consistently managed to sidestep rules and regulations, such as using mark-to-market accounting which granted Enron the right to basically say profits were whatever they said they were.

Perhaps the most egregious offense and one that eventually led to the company's downfall was CFO Andy Fastow's grand scheme of creating shell companies to hide Enron debt. Fastow made $45 million from phony partnerships. Even more disturbing was the manipulation of the California energy crisis in a climate of deregulation. Enron traders caught on audio tape gloat over how they are making out like bandits taking money out of the pockets of grandmothers.

It's not surprising to learn that Skilling's favorite book was "The Selfish Gene," a 1976 ultra-Darwinian tract that argues money is the only thing that matters. It certainly wasn't personal responsibility or conscience for these guys.

While it's shocking enough to see the complete moral vacuum at the center of Enron's corporate philosophy, it is even more chilling to realize how tied in it is with the Bush administration, both on a personal and professional level. Looking at the bigger picture, Gibney demonstrates that in some ways this kind of capitalism run amok has become national policy. The only problem with Enron is that it got caught. Yet in testimony after testimony, Lay (Kenny Boy to the president) and Skilling deny any wrongdoing.

Film includes some impressive interviews with ex-Enron officials, who were courageous enough to come forward. With the help of crack cinematography by Maryse Alberti and intelligent editing by Alison Ellwood, it puts the pieces of the puzzle together. It's not a pretty picture. Gibney and his team have done a commendable job in creating both a riveting story and a record for future generations.

ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM
A Magnolia Pictures presents
An HDNet Films production

Credits:
Director: Alex Gibney
Writer: Gibney
Producers: Gibney, Jason Kloit, Susan Motamed
Executive producers: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, Joana Vicente
Director of photography: Maryse Alberti
Music: Matt Hauser
Co-producer: Alison Ellwood
Editor: Ellwood
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 110 minutes