As I watched Mr. Nice, it quickly became clear that the story was based on a real person, Howard Marks, about whom I was previously ignorant. It was sort of amusing watching this in part because marijuana laws have been falling like dominoes, with possession and use and even selling decriminalized in the United States. This fellow got into a lot of trouble for dealing hashish, when only a few decades later it's no longer considered such a big deal.
As for the story, it's not that exciting (one reason why I inferred that it must be based on history). The message is more or less that drugs should be legal and people should be able to partake if they wish to. Given recent developments, this film is pretty much preaching to the choir. It is of primarily historical interest that a dealer should be aligned along with felons, many of whom have committed much more serious, usually violent, crimes. The film is opens in the hippie era and follows it until it finally wanes in the 1980s. The authentic depiction of those times in Britain was a plus.
I also enjoyed the portrayal of the hard-core IRA arms dealer with whom Marks was in cahoots for a while. Given the company he kept, one must ask: was Marks as innocent as he appears in this quasi-biopic? I don't know. In this respect, Mr. Nice reminds me a bit of Goodfellas, where we are asked to believe that Henry Hill never killed anyone. Not very plausible, to be perfectly frank.
I did not find the main character very interesting in his own right. He was basically a pothead, as was his wife (Chloë Sevigny), who seemed to be pretty much devoid of a personality. They both seemed nice enough, so his adopted alias, Mr. Nice, was certainly appropriate. The couple was apparently not big on birth control, because they kept having more babies.
The production values were more like a made-for-TV production, and perhaps that is what this was.
As for the story, it's not that exciting (one reason why I inferred that it must be based on history). The message is more or less that drugs should be legal and people should be able to partake if they wish to. Given recent developments, this film is pretty much preaching to the choir. It is of primarily historical interest that a dealer should be aligned along with felons, many of whom have committed much more serious, usually violent, crimes. The film is opens in the hippie era and follows it until it finally wanes in the 1980s. The authentic depiction of those times in Britain was a plus.
I also enjoyed the portrayal of the hard-core IRA arms dealer with whom Marks was in cahoots for a while. Given the company he kept, one must ask: was Marks as innocent as he appears in this quasi-biopic? I don't know. In this respect, Mr. Nice reminds me a bit of Goodfellas, where we are asked to believe that Henry Hill never killed anyone. Not very plausible, to be perfectly frank.
I did not find the main character very interesting in his own right. He was basically a pothead, as was his wife (Chloë Sevigny), who seemed to be pretty much devoid of a personality. They both seemed nice enough, so his adopted alias, Mr. Nice, was certainly appropriate. The couple was apparently not big on birth control, because they kept having more babies.
The production values were more like a made-for-TV production, and perhaps that is what this was.