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 | stoner comedy | cool | drugs | mi6 | 

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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

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,217,391

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

In development hell for over a decade.

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Goofs

Throughout the film, there are several occasions when modern UPVC windows are visible - most clearly when the projector is stolen from the school, and in the accountant's office before he gets arrested.

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Quotes

Howard Marks: In the papers they call people who sell drugs pushers. You know, like you've got to try really hard to get rid of it. Doesn't really work like that, does it?

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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

Lazy
by Deep Purple

User Reviews

real story must be more exciting

Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans) comes from Garw in Wales. He was the smartest kid in the coal mining region and gets beaten up for it. He gets into Oxford. One night, Ilze Kadegis (Elsa Pataky) crawls through his window and he follows her to a life of drugs. They get married and become teachers. The straight life doesn't last long. Ilze divorces him and he falls for Judy (Chloë Sevigny). When his friend Graham Plinson (Jack Huston) gets arrested in Germany, he goes over and helps transport a car filled with hashish. It's the start of a life of crime as he smuggles drugs from Afghanistan to Britain. He gets involved with IRA member Jim McCann (David Thewlis), arrested trying to smuggle into America, does a deal with the British government, and then escape.

This is one biopic that is definitely less exciting than the real story. It's more of a long rambling list of crazy life. It's not done in the most exciting ways. He is simply a Nice guy with loving relationships who falls into a life of crime of a delivery guy. There is a lack of intensity or drama. It's a lot of wacky and outrageous. The danger doesn't feel visceral. It's definitely a crazy life and I can see the difficulty of distilling the random craziness into a cohesive story.