Howard Marks Movie Opens in the UK

Posted by Karri Gallaugher on October 11, 2010

Oct 112010

Howard Marks, the inspiration for the movie, "Mr. Nice"

The movie “Mr. Nice”, the story of long time English smuggler turned marijuana activist, Howard Marks, opened last weekend in the UK. Welsh actor RHYS IFANS, who plays Marks in the movie, was so thrilled with the final edit of the film, he broke down in tears at the screening last week. Ifans says the part is close to his heart because of his longstanding friendship with the notorious drug smuggler. He said that seeing the finished film was an emotional experience for him and his friend. He tells a British Magazine they saw the film for the first time together and held hands all the way through. He said by the end they were weeping like little girls, it was so moving. The film also stars Cloe Sivengy and Crispin Glover.

The movie tells the story of Howard Marks who grew up in the 1950’s in a working-class Wales neighborhood. He won a scholarship to Oxford in the mid-1960’s and like many people his age and it that era, discovered his love for cannabis. He quit Oxford and began importing marijuana on such a large scale, it is said that he controlled 10% of the worlds hash trade at one time. His notoriety as an international hash smuggler became the stuff of legends that eventually led to a conviction, courtesy of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Marks spent seven years imprisoned in a Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana for his crimes. He earned the nickname “Mr. Nice” because he never used violence and even as his power in the underground grew to notorious proportions, he refused to deal in harder drugs. Since his release from a US prison, he published a best selling autobiography in 1996, Mr. Nice, on which the movie is based. He still campaigns for the legalization of cannabis and has an active lecture tour. His most recent work is host of a documentary on Current TV titled, “Howard Marks on Drugs” that investigates drug laws in the UK.

You can see a trailer for the Movie here.