Rogue Trader (1999, 2000)

Rogue Trader is a movie that is based on a true story. Here is some basic information about it:

** Directed and written by James Dearden

** Shown in theatres in 1999

** Released on DVD in 2000

** Run time: 97 minutes
 
This film is the story of Nick Leeson who caused the downfall of Barings Bank, the oldest family-owned investment bank in Britain, in 1995. It is based on his autobiography Rogue Trader, that was written while he was in prison in Singapore and published in 1996 (an updated version appeared in 2015).
 
[Please note: there may be some spoilers ahead, but all facts mentioned in this review are part of the public record, and therefore they can hardly be described as spoilers.]
 
The cast includes the following:
 
** Ewan McGregor as Nick Leeson
** Anna Friel as Lisa Leeson
** John Standing as Peter Baring
** Caroline Langrishe as Ash Lewis

Nick Gleeson (born 1967) began to work for Barings Bank while he was a young man. His first overseas job came when the bank sent him to Jakarta, Indonesia, to sort out an economic problem. While working on this case, he met Lisa who became his wife. In 1992, once the case in Jakarta was completed, the bank sent him to Singapore where he was put in charge of the trading floor.

During his first year Nick was lucky and made a lot of money for his bank, but after this things began to change. He failed and borrowed money from the bank to cover his loss. He hoped to make more money and repay the bank, but instead he lost again and the deficit became bigger and bigger. Amazingly, he was able to keep the bank and the authorities in the dark for a long time.

By 1995 the game was up. Nick and Lisa left Singapore and travelled to neighbouring Malaysia. While in Malaysia, they learned that Barings bank had collapsed. Nick’s transactions had caused a loss of more than 800 million pounds. They tried to get back to England, but they could not get a direct flight. They only got as far as Germany. They were caught by the police when they landed in Frankfurt. Nick was arrested and later extradited to Singapore where he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

While Nick was in prison, Lisa divorced him. To make matters worse, he was diagnosed with cancer. Because of this he was released from prison in 1999, having served four and a half years of his sentence. When he was released, he returned to England. He survived the cancer and he is still alive. Today he lives in Ireland, where he has three children with his second wife.

The collapse of Barings bank in 1995 was a warning of what can happen if a bank is allowed to operate without any serious oversight. The collapse of Enron in 2001 was a warning of what can happen if a large corporation is allowed to operate without any serious oversight. Unfortunately, these warnings were not understood. When the financial crisis came in 2008, most observers were caught by surprise.

Rogue Trader focuses on Nick’s life and career in Singapore, i.e. the time from 1992 to 1995. There is almost nothing about his life and career before 1992, and only one brief scene after his arrest in Germany in 1995 where we see him behind bars in Changi Prison in Singapore.

There are several minor flaws in the film:

# 1. When Nick and his friend are driving a Porsche, they are wearing seat belts, when we see them from the front, but when we see them from the side, they are not.

# 2. The signs used by Nick and the other traders on the trading floor, are homemade. They do not correspond to the signs used by real traders.

# 3. When Nick is in a bar, a song is playing in the background. The scene takes place in 1995, but the song is from 1997.

# 4. In one scene where Nick faxes a letter, we can see the fax machine that is used. The scene takes place in 1994, but the fax machine is from 1996.

# 5. In another scene where Nick faxes a letter, we can see the date of his message: 2 February 1995. A few minutes later, we see Nick watching CNN on television. The CNN report is about the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, which happened on 17 January 1995. This means the date on the fax message is wrong. It should have been a few days before 17 January 1995.

Rogue Trader received mixed reviews. On IMDb it has a rating of 63 per cent, but on Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of only 30 per cent. I think a rating of 63 per cent is too high. I understand the critical reviews and I agree with them. This film is based on a true story, but unfortunately, it is not told very well.

The leading actors are not well-chosen: Ewan McGregor does not look like the real Nick Leeson at all. Many reviewers feel that Anna Friel gives a poor performance as Lisa, and I agree with them. In addition, there are several minor flaws, as I have explained above. Therefore this film cannot get more than two stars.

PS # 1. Nick Leeson has an official website where you can find additional information about his life and career.

PS # 2. The following articles about the case are available online:

** “Barings collapse at 20: How rogue trader Nick Leeson broke the bank,” the Guardian, 24 February 2015

** “Twenty years on, is Nick Leeson really sorry for breaking the bank?” the Telegraph, 21 February 2015

** “Barings: The collapse that erased 232 years of history,” the Telegraph, 23 February 2015

PS # 3. For information about the financial crisis of 2008, see the following package which includes five programs broadcast by Frontline: Economic Meltdown (2013).

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** Another DVD cover **

 

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The Crooked E (2003, 2007)

The Crooked E: The Unshredded truth about Enron is a movie that is based on a true story. It premiered in 2003 and was released on DVD in 2007. Here is some basic information about it:

** Directed by Penelope Spheeris

** Written by Steven Mazur

** Run time: 80 minutes
 
This film is a dramatized story about the last days of Enron, the giant US company that crashed in October-November-December 2001. It is based on the book Enron: Anatomy of Greed by Brian Cruver (2003). The author worked for the company for less than one year, from April to December 2001.

The cast includes the following:

** Christian Kane as Brian Cruver

** Shannon Elizabeth as Courtney (his fiancée)

** Brian Dennehy as Mr Blue

** Mike Farrell as Kenneth Lay

** John Ted Wayne as Jeff Skilling

** Natalie Brown as Amber St. Pierre (Miss April)

** Jennifer Hill as Miss August

** Cameron Bancroft as Duffy

** Jonas Chernick as Bernie Bickers (Brian’s best friend)
 
Some of these characters are real persons, such as Brian Cruver, Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling, while other characters are fictional, such as Mr Blue, Miss April and Miss August.

Neither Brian’s fiancée Courtney nor his colleague Duffy has a last name. Perhaps this surprising detail is a sign that this film is not really a serious project, even though the topic covered by the film is very serious.

The characters are thin; they have no real substance; they are like cartoons. When Brian enters Enron’s building for the first time, he is impressed by its size, as if he has never seen a huge building before. When Brian enters Mr Blue’s office for the first time, he is impressed by its size and furniture. As if he has never seen a large office with furniture before.

It gets worse: Brian is deeply impressed by the constant talk about money, so he quickly decides to buy several things he and Courtney do not really need. He buys a new car, a new watch and a new television set. With money that he has not yet earned. He is counting on future profits, just as the management of Enron did. Future profits that never arrived.

At the beginning of the movie Brian and Courtney plan a small-scale wedding with close family and friends. But when Brian starts working for Enron, he hires a professional wedding planner and plans to have a huge wedding with two or three hundreds guests. In short, he becomes a person who is hard to like, and we can guess what this does to Courtney and her feelings for him.

Sadly, this movie is filled with clichés, even though the topic that is covered is no cliché at all. There is a sharp contrast between the serious subject of the film and the superficial characters that are presented in it.

How good is this film? Perhaps I should say: how bad is this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 62 per cent. I cannot believe this figure. How can such a bad movie get such a good rating? On Amazon it has received mixed reviews, all the way from one star to five stars. This makes more sense to me.

I can relate to the negative opinions about this film. It is based on a true story, but unfortunately, it is not told very well. This film is fatally flawed, and therefore I it cannot get more than two stars.

PS # 1. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a documentary film from 2005, released on DVD in 2007. It is based on the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and the Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind (2003).

PS # 2. For more information, see the following books:

** Enron: The Rise and Fall by Loren Fox (2003)

** Power failure: The Rise and Fall of Enron by Mimi Swartz with Sharron Watkins (2003)

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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005, 2007)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a documentary film from 2005 that was released on DVD in 2007. Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced by Alex Gibney, Susan Motamed and Jason Kliot

** Written and directed by Alex Gibney

** Narrated by Peter Coyote

** Run time: 106 minutes

This film is the story of the rise and fall of the US company Enron, from the founding in 1985 until the sudden crash in October-November-December 2001. It is based on the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind (2003). Both authors appear in the film.

The company slogan says: “Ask why.” This slogan was supposed to create an environment in which the staff would ask: “Why is it this way? Why not in another way?” These questions were supposed to help them find ways in which the company could make more money.

Unfortunately, and ironically, no one ever asked why Enron was doing so well – or more precisely seemed to be doing so well – for so long, while other companies were in trouble. Was it because they were smart? Because they were lucky? Or was there a more sinister explanation? Could it be that a large part of their operations was based on fraud? Could it be that the high value of the Enron stock was never backed by real assets, but only existed on paper?

For several years, the leaders of Enron were able to make people on Wall Street, the US public, indeed the whole world, believe that Enron was a giant that was doing well. In reality, the company was a house of cards.

In theory, something like the Enron disaster cannot happen. There are safeguards in the economic system. They are there to prevent this from happening. Lawyers, accountants, and bankers are supposed to say no and issue a warning, if a company does something wrong. But in the case of Enron, the system did not work: the lawyers, the accountants, and the bankers worked with Enron, perhaps because they were offered a share of the profits.

Many witnesses are interviewed in the film. Some of them used to work for Enron, while others have studied the company from the outside. The list of names is too long to be mentioned here.

Top leaders of the company are profiled in the film:

** Ken Lay

** Jeff Skilling

** Lou Pai

** Andy Farstow

** J. Clifford Baxter

** Amanda Martin-Brock

** Sharron Watkins

The third person on this list (Lou Pai) left the company a few months before the crash. He left with more than 250 million dollars and he was never charged with any crime. The fifth person on this list (Clifford Baxter) left the company in May 2001 and committed suicide in January 2002. The other male leaders (Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and Andy Farstow) were charged and later sentenced to several years in prison.

The female leaders (Amanda Martin-Brock and Sharron Watkins) were never charged with any crime, even though they were part of the leadership and they knew what was going on. They are both interviewed in the film.

When the company crashed, about two thousand people lost their jobs. Not only their monthly pay check but also their pension fund disappeared into the air.

The leaders of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen realised that they might be charged as well, so they ordered a systematic shredding of documents in order to cover their tracks. This did not help: the company was found guilty in 2002. While the conviction was reversed in 2005, this did not help much: nobody wanted to hire the company because of its bad reputation, and it was effectively wiped out.

[In 2014, the company tried to come back to life under a new name: Andersen Tax. For details, see “Arthur Andersen returns 12 years after Enron scandal,” the Telegraph, 2 September 2014.]

The fall of Enron in 2001 was a warning sign about what would happen seven years later, on a much larger scale. But the warning was taken not taken seriously. And when the economic crash came in 2008, most people were taken by surprise.

This film got some good reviews. On IMDb it has a rating of 77 per cent; on Metacritic it has a rating of 82 per cent; and on Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 97 per cent. In the Chicago Sun-Times, the famous movie critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013) gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 4. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature of 2005.

I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. This is an important film about an important case. Therefore it is highly recommended.

PS # 1. For more details about Enron, see the following items:

** Enron: The Rise and Fall by Loren Fox (2002, 2003)

** Power Failure: The Rise & Fall of Enron by Mimi Swartz with Sharron Watkins (2003) (both authors are interviewed in the film)

** The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth about Enron is a 2003 movie based on the book Enron: Anatomy of Greed by Brian Cruver (2003) (both book and film received mixed reviews)

PS # 2. Rogue Trader is a movie about Nick Leeson who caused the downfall of the Barings Bank in 1995. This movie that premiered in 1999 received mixed reviews: on IMDb it has a rating of 63 per cent, but on Rotten Tomatoes is has a rating of only 30 per cent, while the Telegraph gives it only 2 of 5 stars.

PS # 3. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is another significant documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It premiered in 2012 and was released on DVD in 2013.

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