SCENES OF THE CRIME BLOG-A-THON: Mr Nice

25th January 2013

By Robert Mann.

The legendary Howard Marks – drug trafficker, spy and world-class charmer. Born in South Wales in 1945, his beginnings were as unremarkable as anyone else, yet he went to live a life that has included careers as a teacher, a drug smuggler, an author, an actor, a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and even an (unsuccessful) politician.

Through supposed connections with groups such as the IRA and the Mafia and high profile court cases he achieved notoriety as an international hashish (a particular preparation of cannabis – Marks refused to deal with hard drugs) smuggler and at the height of his career it was said that he controlled 10% of the world’s hashish trade. He was eventually caught by the American Drug Enforcement Association and served seven years in a prison in Indiana. And while Marks’ life may sound like a work of complete fiction, it is quite remarkably true, and his imprisonment isn’t where his story comes to an end as, following his release, he went on to publish the best-selling 1996 autobiography Mr Nice – which is the inspiration for this very film – as well as several follow up works and has had several small acting roles/cameo appearances in films like Human Traffic and Killer Bitch, not to mention his campaigning work and his standing for election to Parliament in 1997 with the single issue of the legalisation of cannabis, something which prompted the creation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in 1999. And now, following all of these things that have happened in his remarkable life, not to mention him touring the world with his own one-man show and being the subject of Sky 1 documentary Stoned in Suburbia, Howard Marks is receiving his very own big screen biopic (and he even collaborates with British artist Kav Sandhu on the track Mr Nice for the film) in the form of Mr Nice, with the title role of Marks himself going to fellow Welshman and acclaimed actor Rhys Ifans and the job of both writing and directing going to the somewhat unobvious choice of Bernard Rose, who is perhaps best known for 1992 horror film Candyman. But there is nothing horrific about his latest movie except for perhaps the fact that it is nowhere near as good as you may have been told it is.

From humble beginnings in South Wales the intelligent Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans) wins a place at Oxford University in the 1960s. Howard is initiated into the world of drugs by his girlfriend, Ilze (Elsa Pataky), but the death of a friend from a heroin overdose forces him to straighten out. He gets his degree and returns to Wales to be a teacher, as does Ilze. Boredom sets in after he and Ilze are married and, at a party in London, Howard encounters the temptation of drugs and a lithe young lady named Judy (Chloe Sevigny). When an old friend asks Howard to bring a carload of hash back from Germany, the near-calamitous journey ends with Howard winning both the respect of established traffickers and the love of Judy. The game is well and truly on as an unbelievable adventure begins for Howard and Judy, one that sees him doing business with the likes of Kabul drug supplier Saleem Makik (Omid Djalili), IRA member Jim McCann (David Thewlis), American drug dealer Ernie Combs (Crispin Glover) and crooked accountant Patrick Lane (Jamie Harris), recruited into MI6 by old friend Hamilton McMillan (Christian McKay) and pursued by DEA agent Lovato (Luis Tosar).

It could be said that Howard Marks has lived a very exciting life and you would certainly expect any film based on it to be exciting as well. Exciting, however, is not a word that can be used to describe Mr Nice. It isn’t that the film isn’t interesting because Howard Marks’ life story is an interesting one no matter it is presented, him having lived more in his life than most people, but the presentation here is that of a dull biopic rather than a truly engaging drama, the kind of thing that might pass in a television documentary but as a movie just doesn’t cut it. What we actually see of Marks’ drug smuggling operation is generic, the kind of thing that we have seen before many times in other movies and, while his cleverness occasionally shows through, most of what we see is just dull. It’s certainly in keeping with a key theme that is present in the film – the life of a drug dealer is NOT a glamorous one – but it doesn’t make for anything truly enthralling from the perspective of the moviegoer. In portraying the man behind the legend the film is considerably more successful with a fair amount of time put into showing Marks’ personal life and the characters mostly being very well developed, Marks in particular coming across as a very well rounded character for whom the title of Mr NICE is really quite accurate as he is presented not as some evil criminal mastermind but rather as a human being who doesn’t believe he is doing anything wrong and who never resorts to violence or the pushing of hard drugs. Consequently, he is a character who we can feel empathy for even and actually care about as he flouts the laws of different nations. Even the character based stuff, however, fails to be particularly gripping. The blame for this likely goes to Bernard Rose for his writing, despite offering up some good dialogue and employing the smart approach of presenting Marks’ story as it is being told to a live audience at his one man show (voiceover being used very effectively here), is very lacking in the plot department and as the film progresses it begins to feel rather repetitive, even longwinded. In terms of the direction, however, Rose fares much better with a number of stylistic touches ensuring that this is, at the very least, a film that looks good.

The film starts out in black and white as we are introduced to the completely sober Howard Marks before he is introduced to the world of drugs and only when he takes his first drag of cannabis does the colour start to drain in, this touch not being especially original but proving very effective. Colour in general is used effectively here with a strong contrast between duller colours when Marks is sober and vibrant, brighter ones when is stoned, something that effectively distinguishes the two different worlds between which Marks steps foot. The cinematography in general is excellent and the way in which the film has been shot often gives it a trippy, psychedelic look, something that is very appropriate given the themes that the film explores. The film has also been shot in such a way that is actually looks like a film that was made during the 60s, 70s or 80s with the picture quality being very much like what you would have seen in a film from any of these decades (the same decades over which the film’s events take place) and there is also effective integration of real life archive and news footage, something that gives the film a look and feel that is authentic to the periods. The performances on display are also excellent with Rhys Ifans, in particular, standing out and once again demonstrating why he is one of the finest actors of his generation. His performance is note perfect and whether he is playing Marks completely sober or stoned out of his mind he never fails to convince or bring on the charm. His co-stars are also superb but the real scene stealers come from the likes of David Thewlis, Christian McKay and an almost unrecognisable Crispin Glover. Unfortunately, neither the strength of these performances or the quality of the visuals is enough to overcome the fact that the film as a whole really is quite tedious viewing. The story never really engages, making it hard to really get into what is happening and the overall film is a real drag (pardon the pun). So, Mr Nice is a not a film without its strengths, being very technically proficient and boasting great acting but its failure to really enthral us with a truly engrossing storyline makes for a film that you won’t love, rather just consider to be nice.

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