He also takes his fiancee to a wild party former strippers and skimpy dress seem all too common at this go-go-go company. He buys a big car, a big TV, everything he thinks he needs for happiness, with money he doesn't really have (just like Enron).
Unfortunately, he is making it big at the expense of his relationship with his fiancee. The question was probably never asked in real life but it is one of the many comments that seems humorous in light of the scandal's outcome: What if Enron goes bankrupt? Cruver becomes a real go-getter and, in one scene, it's really exciting to watch him pitch his product to a reluctant customer. Cruver works in a department that has introduced a new kind of insurance: insurance against bankruptcy of a company or, say, one of its major customers. What he isn't told is that the people getting rich are doing it by falsifying numbers and making everything look good with future projected earnings. Cruver learns quickly what is expected of Enron employees and how they can get rich. This story of the Enron scandal is told from the standpoint of new employee Brian Cruver (it is never made clear whether he was a real person, but it doesn't really matter). Works as daytime fodder but the truth deserves much, much more than this. 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. Overall this is an entry-level film if you are looking to learn more about power, corporations much better is Smartest Guys. The rest of the cast are so-so at best but few convince and Farrell and Wynne are particularly weak. 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. 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. Sure his material isn't that good but his performance is no better. Kane is bland and never convinces no matter what his character is going through. The cast are roundly weak, which isn't that much of a surprise.
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. 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 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 delivers the impact of the story pretty basically as well having women crying about their lost money etc. 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. To some viewers this will work but I suggest that these people have not seen Smartest Guys. 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. It also benefits hugely from having access to the in-house video footage that this film can only dramatise. As a documentary, this other film focuses on developing the main story and presenting it as clearly as possible. The downside of my timing was that I had already seen the imperfect but vastly superior Smartest Guy in the Room. 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. 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.
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.
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