Color, R (mature themes, language, nudity), 113 min., DVD only $26.98
DVD: director's commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, Enron company skits, commercials, political cartoons
Street: Jan. 17, Prebook: Dec. 20
First Run: L, April 2005, $4 mil.
Director: Alex Gibney
MAGNOLIA
A fascinating look at the Enron scandal, this go-for-broke documentary should be applauded for taking a highly entertaining approach to what could have been treated as a dry finance story. How the energy corporation went from the seventh largest U.S. enterprise to a bankrupt shell of a company rife with scandal is truly incredible. Using a best-selling book as his basis, director Gibney packs a lot of info in this feature-length saga, which reveals a rogue's gallery of villains. Enron toppers Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Andy Fastow and others, each more hissable than the next, are all here, and their greedy and deceitful maneuvers as well as their connections to government's movers and shakers are wholly demonstrated. Objectivity isn't a strong point in the proceedings—Gibney occasionally has a Michael Moore moment by underlining points with mocking footage and musical cues—but there's no denying that this is a gutsy, powerful film with appeal beyond the readers of Fortune magazine (whose writers penned the Enron book) and The Wall Street Journal. A healthy $4 million box office take in a long and limited theatrical run and a DVD release timed to Lay and Skilling's January fraud trial should help power interest for Magnolia Home Entertainment's initial public offering.
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