Mr. Nice (2010)

The life story of Howard Marks, an elite British drug smuggler.

Director:

Bernard Rose

Writers:

Bernard Rose (screenplay), Howard Marks (based on the book by)

Stars:

Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rhys Ifans	...	Howard Marks
Chloë Sevigny	...	Judy Marks
David Thewlis	...	Jim McCann
Luis Tosar	...	Craig Lovato
Crispin Glover	...	Ernie Combs
Omid Djalili	...	Saleem Malik
Christian McKay	...	Hamilton McMillan
Elsa Pataky	...	Ilze Kadegis
Jack Huston	...	Graham Plinston
Jamie Harris	...	Patrick Lane
Sara Sugarman	...	Edna Marks
William Thomas	...	Dennis Marks
Andrew Tiernan	...	Alan Marcuson
Kinsey Packard	...	Patti Hayes
Ania Sowinski	...	Maureen

Storyline

Mr Nice is the true life story of Howard Marks who was born into a coal mining family in South Wales in 1940's and then made it to Oxford University to study nuclear physics during the swinging sixties. With the help of fellow students, Marks built a worldwide marijuana smuggling network which became responsible for the majority of the drug smoked in the Western world during the 1970s and 1980s. Marks' adventures led him to have dealings with the CIA, PLO, IRA and the Mafia and he even became an MI6 agent himself for a period. Howard Marks is played by the brilliant Rhys Ivans, who won much acclaim for his portrayal of the folk hero.

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Plot Keywords:

bikini | drugs | mi6 | ira | cia | 

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Taglines:

43 Aliases. 89 Phone Lines. This is the Story of Howard Marks.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK Spain

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 June 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr Nice

Filming Locations:

Benidorm, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£134,846 (United Kingdom), 15 October 2010, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hindsight Media,Independent,Kanzaman

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

That really is David Thewlis' penis that we get a glimpse of in a poolside scene. Originally his agent rang up and spoke to writer-director Bernard Rose, saying that he couldn't possibly reveal his penis as he was in the Harry Potter films! Thewlis however disagreed.

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Goofs

When Howard visits the airport of Shanon for the first time an ATC radar appears on the screen for couple of seconds. It is most likely a Marconi PSR system co-mounted with a MSSR radar which is too modern for the late 70s or early 80s.

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Quotes

[Voice over]
Howard Marks: The next morning I woke up famous. I was now pursued by the IRA, the DEA, Customs and Excise, the police and the press.

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Crazy Credits

The credits appear over a super slow motion shot of Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans) lighting and taking a toke from a joint.

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Soundtracks

God
by John Lennon

User Reviews

Fun with serious intent

Mr Nice is a rare beast of a film, it swaggers, it spits, it dreams, it punches, it laughs, it cries and of course and likely above all it gets stoned.

Howard Marks is the central character played effortlessly by Rhys Ifans, a welsh school boy turned big city student and pothead. We see Marks transformation through a series of off beat scenes in which director Bernard Rose reflects on Marks' humble, banal yet honest origins. Then our protagonist through a combination youthful substance experimentation and a fateful convergence of circumstances is established as an international Drug smuggler,

We are gradually introduced to a plethora of interesting characters that vary from casual love interests to drug dealing allies, who materialise as Ifans travels deeper into Marks' world of dope, dealing and debauchery. Amongst the group are fine supporting efforts notably from David Thewlis who delivers the hilariously cranky IRA terrorist turned middle man Jim. Chloë Sevigny convinces as the overly supportive wife and mother Judy and Omid Djalili sparkles intermittently as the Pakistani pusher Saleem Malik.

The film takes us through the tumultuous times of sex, drugs, betrayal, greed, prison and pot which Marks and his merry men navigate their way through against a lush backdrop of 70's pastiche. By the time we get to the stories conclusion we have great connections with the characters motives as a result of the superb cast and due to an impressive directorial mesh of humour and grit from Rose what's left is the best British film of the year to date.

8/10