Twins65 This is a straight-ahead biopic on Howard Marks, who was a famous drug dealer in the U.K., and who I was unfamiliar with. It was very similar in style to "Blow", the biopic of George Jung, a big U.S.A. cocaine dealer from yesteryear played by Johnny Depp. It even included a shot with the aged, incarcerated Marks meeting with his children, just as Jung did at the end of "Blow", when his grown-up daughter showed up.Rhys Ifans plays Marks from his high school days (which surely was a stretch to look at) all the way to the very end, which shows him addressing a crowd after he's released from prison and lighting up a bat fat joint. He does a decent job, and is a very watchable actor. In between, we get the standard biopic narrative of how it all went down. The drugs are dealt, the money comes rolling in, and the law eventually shows up later. Included are some scenes with Jack Huston and a totally over-the-top David Thewlis, both great actors. Chloë Sevigny does an OK job pulling off a British accent while playing his wife, who also gets pinched along the way.Check it out if you're interested, but there's nothing ground-breaking going on in this movie.

l_rawjalaurence Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans) grew up in a Welsh village, went to Oxford a relative innocent, and emerged from university as a fully-fledged drug smuggler. He subsequently went on to become one of Britain's most celebrated (notorious?) drug barons, leading an exuberant lifestyle while successfully evading most attempts at capture. Bernard Rose's biopic encourages us to admire Rose's chutzpah, as he encounters a variety of shady characters, including practicing IRA member Jim McCann (David Thewlis, speaking in an eccentric Irish accent), and American cartel owner Ernie Combs (Crispin Glover). The film's tone remains lighthearted throughout, and there are some convincing scenes where modern-day actors are inserted into authentically Seventies archive scenes (complete with washed-out colors). But in truth MR. NICE does not have that much to say, either about the ethics - if there can be such a thing - of drug-smuggling, nor about the lengths to which people will go to try and evade customs-officers of various countries. It remains a rather slight crime-caper, distinguished mostly by Ifans' jaunty performance as Howard Marks.

Andy Steel I don't know whether it was deliberate or not, but I found the picture quality very poor. It may have been to make it look more like a period piece, but more likely it was the best the budget would allow. I thought Rhys Ifans did an excellent job, although he never seems to age all through the film! I loved the small part David Thewlis played; the mad- cap Irishman was just brilliant. As to the plot; well I found it far too sympathetic to Marks; not surprising since it was based on his book I hear you say. But I would have thought the filmmakers would have put a little balance in there; what effect did all the drugs he sold all over the world have? How many innocent lives were affected? All this seemed inconsequential and probably explains why, despite some excellent performances, the film didn't perform very well both at the box office and also critically. For me, whilst I enjoyed the performances, I found it a little too self-indulgent.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED (…Just)My score: 5.8/10.You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

adams225 having read the book a few times and being a big fan of Howard Marks, i had some enthusiastic anticipation for this movie.... but how disheartened i was when the end credits rolled. too much has been omitted or briefly skimmed over, and characters reduced to footnotes. in the book, McCann was a sinister yet comical recurring character, but in the film is just a slightly ridiculous caricature. i did enjoy Thewlis' performance, but the script itself is the problem.one the plus side, Ifans makes a fine Marks, resembling the man to a remarkable degree, and is reasonably charming in the role. but, once again, the script lets the film down. the bookend scenes are nice, probably the best bits, but as they are roughly a minute or so long, that doesn't really add up to a 'good movie'.overall, pretty weak and unimpressive.READ THE BOOK PEOPLE!