"Holy shit, y'all are STILL sitting on SXSW reviews?" Yes, fuck you; it's been a busy month. Anyhoo. One of the best films I saw during the film festival waaaay back in March was director Bernard Rose's Mr. Nice, the story of Howard Marks, a Welsh teacher turned drug dealer turned family man turned spy turned the biggest dope smuggler in the world. Since this was starring Rhys Ifans, typically a comical supporting actor, I was incredibly intrigued how the film would be. Turns out it would be entertaining as hell. 

Read the rest of the review after the jump!

Mr. Nice is an interesting film. It doesn't necessarily glamorize drug smuggling but it doesn't hide its pro-legalization stance either. In telling the astonishing story of a nice dude who became a sophisticated drug baron, the film has more heart, humor, and entertainment than Blow, a film likely to draw comparisons from. Mr. Nice begins at the very beginning, showing Ifans as a young lad in Wales in cool black and white flashbacks. Eventually his world opens in Oxford when he discovers dope and hallucinogens. The film follows his foray into smuggling as initially a favor to a friend, but when he Marks discovers he's actually quite good at the whole thing, the operation gets bigger and the wealth starts pouring in. He also randomly gets involved with a crazy IRA member (David Thewlis), MI6, and the CIA.

Of course, Marks inevitably gets caught (this should come to no surprise to anyone who's watching a biopic on a giant drug smuggler), but it's not the mystery of when and how he'll get caught that keep the movie's momentum going, it's the relationship he forms with his girlfriend (Chloe Sevigny) and his children. At heart, Marks is just a likable dude who loves his family, and it is his relationships with them that give the film its heart and emotional pull. 

Mr. Nice isn't a hit-you-over-the-head epic biopic. It's subtle and nuanced. It is hella entertaining and wickedly funny in some parts due to the wonderful performance of Ifans. While he's been wholly a supporting player in comedies, he truly shines in this dramatic part. He brings depth and warmth to Marks, almost as if he has been playing him his whole life. Sevigny is okay as his ladyfriend and eventual wife in a kind of stilted accent. She could have been played by any actress really. But, like Ifans, Thewlis also turns out a stellar performance as the wacky and psychopathic IRA member. His character is even more over-the-top than Marks, as he constantly on the run, brandishing guns at every turn. 

Mr. Nice is a well-developed picture with emotional depth and great performances. Here's hoping it makes Rhys Ifans a bigger star over here.