It initially follows the story of the book closely and charts Howard's progress from a small Welsh town to Oxford University where he achieved heady academic heights. Also having his first encounter with Marijuana, a substance which would change his life. The film contains many of Marks' well-known quotes including, "There is no such thing as a dope dealer, only someone who buys more weed than they can smoke.". It also contains many of the colourful characters fans will know, such as "your man Jim McCann of the Provisional IRA", who seems to have a more prominent role here probably due to his comedic value. It also seems as though he's been cleaned up a little and made more likable than the nasty sadistic character in print.

Rhys Ifans gives a great performance in a lead role he was born for in many ways, not just because of the obvious Welsh connection but because he has the right look and seems to understand the subject. Omid Djalili is also very good as Malik, Howard's Afghan connection, and the rest of the cast seem well selected for the most part. Having said that the style of the cinematography in some passages really isn't to my taste. There are lots of scenes with deliberately obvious superimposed backgrounds, usually old black and white news footage in a style first made famous by the film Forrest Gump. Perhaps it's a nod to some of the classic films of the 20's and 30's but it just didn't sit right for me and detracted from the story. The film also seems to drag on a little in parts, as we pressed further into the second hour I could feel my fellow cinema goers getting restless. Much emphasis has been put onto Mark's early life and career, the first two thirds of the book, rather than his time in an American jail. I know it's difficult to fit the contents of an entire book into a 2 hour film, but it feels as though they wrote most of the screenplay then realised time was running out and hastily wrapped up. I'd like to have seen more made of the prison stories and later exploits.

Overall, Mr Nice is a good film with some strong performances but it stops slightly short of being great. Viewers less familiar with Marks and the subject matter will probably get the most out of it. There's definitely laughs and entertainment to be had here, but die hard fans may not enjoy it quite so much. If you don't know much about Howard Marks then I certainly recommend you see it, if you're a fully paid up disciple of Mr Nice perhaps not. My rating - 7/10

Review by Dan Lynch

Times: - FACT WEBSITE

‎2hr 1min‎‎ - Rated 18‎‎ - Comedy/Drama‎‎ - English‎ - 
Director: Bernard Rose - Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, Jack Huston, Christian McKay, Elsa Pataky, Omid Djalili, Andrew Tiernan, Nathalie Cox, Kinsey Packard