Mr. Nice (Film Preview for Buzz Magazine)

Words originally for Buzz Magazine, written during a week's work experience completed in August 2010, published in Buzz's October issue.

Mr. Nice

A biopic starring Rhys Ifans about the life of notorious drug smuggler Howard Marks is to hit UK cinema screens this month.

Ifans stars as the Bridgend-born Marks in film {Mr. Nice} (pronounced like the French city rather than the adjective, apparently), named after his autobiography of the same title, which is directed by Bernard Rose and also stars Chloë Sevigny as Marks’ wife, Crispin Glover, and Omid Djalili.

Marks, who is friends with Ifans, shot to fame as an international marijuana smuggler, believing that the drug should be legalised, through a string of high profile court cases, as well as links with the IRA and the mafia – and he was often seen as a political criminal rather than merely a drug smuggler.

The film, a comedy-drama that made its debut at the SXSW film festival, follows his life; through his times at Oxford University, as a teacher, his steps into the drug business and the life that follows it, as well as issues regarding the legalisation of the drug.

Mr. Nice will be on cinema screens around the UK on Fri 8 Oct.