I'm sure there's more than one drug dealer worth biopic-ing. It's an exciting life, fraught with danger in exotic locales and filled with mysterious men with foreign accents and bikuini-clad women who don't talk much at all. In 'Mr. Nice,' we follow the rise, fall and comeback of Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans), the man who raised the drug dealing bar in England and the U.S., an enterprising, likable guy who couldn't resist the high and the easy money. His first joint was smoked in his freshman year at Cambridge and all dreams of success in the straight world dissolved into smoke -- literally. Thanks to his quick mind, good nature, courage and plain old luck, Marks became very successful. Eventually, though, all his near escapes finally caught up with him.
I couldn't help but hotice that George Jung's career, as depicted by Johnny Depp in the biopic 'Blow' (2001), is the historic and dramatic superior film with too many similarities not to be held up to comparison. The relative intensity of the cocaine high compared to a hashish high is a simple demonstrtaion of 'Blow' to 'Mr. Nice.' Both leads are easy going, smart, opportunistic, drug entrepreneurs who expand their field like no one before them. Both are in love with one woman (each) and have children. Both pay the price for their illegal actions. It just seems the stakes are higher, the characters (both dealer and associates) have more extreme, colorful personalities, the emotional toll more intense in 'Blow.' Even Marks' association with the IRA and MI6 doesn't seem to have the impact that Jung's partners in crime do. The wealth achieved and luxurious lifestyle in 'Blow' make 'Mr. Nice''s Marks look like a middle class suburbanite in comparison. The mechanics of how the business is expanded and how 'Blow''s Jung avoids detection and arrest for years is more detailed, therefore, more intriguing. Sorry -- the people are more beautiful in 'Blow' (sure, the Hollywood touch, but watching Depp and Penelope Cruz is more engaging than the still very talented and more realistic cast of 'Mr. Nice'. Then again, maybe Mr. and Mrs. Jung were that beautiful during that period of their lives). The outcome in 'Blow' is more morally satisfying in a Greek tragedy sense than the keep-on-keeping-on attitude and having learned nothing from his experiencess displayed by a very smug Marks at the finale of 'Mr. Nice.'
So, if you haven't already seen 'Blow,' the better use of your hard earned money is to rent 'Blow' rather than to go to the theater to see 'Mr. Nice.' If you've already seen 'Blow' and like to keep track of drug dealers' careers, 'Mr. Nice' will still be a worthwhile addition to your backlog of knowledge in this realm.
Mr. Nice
Director / Writer: Bernard Rose
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis, Crispin Glover
Time: 121 min.
Opening July 1 at the Lumiere in San Francisco
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