Running time: 120 minutes. Director: Bernard Rose.

Starring: Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigny, David Thewlis, Elsa Pataky, Crispin Glover, Andrew Tiernan, Omid Djalili.

THE British love a rogue... we want good to prevail over evil but there's something undeniably appealing about characters who overstep the mark and cheekily break a few rules in pursuit of their dreams.

Howard Marks certainly fits the bill.

Born in Glamorgan, Wales, the Oxford graduate and one-time teacher abandoned the education system to become one of the world’s most powerful and influential drug dealers during the 1960s and 1970s.

At the height of his reign, he had numerous aliases and was credited with control of ten per cent of the international hashish market.

Marks eventually fell foul of the Drug Enforcement Agency and was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

He documented his extraordinary story in the best-selling autobiography Mr Nice and acclaimed writer-director Bernard Rose uses the book as the basis for this colourful biopic, charting the rise and fall of Marks (Rhys Ifans) from his teenage years to the inglorious end of two decades when he lavished his ill-gotten gains on his wife Judy (Chloe Sevigny) and three children Amber, Francesca and Patrick.

“My success completely went to my head and I’ve been living off it to a certain extent ever since,” Howard tells us in a voice-over, offering a pithy commentary on his escapades.

He goes on the run from the authorities and forges a professional link with IRA operative Jim McCann (David Thewlis).

Howard enjoys an enviable lifestyle thanks to his shady enterprises and he naively believes the party will never end.

“I big-headedly presumed that everyone loved me and wouldn't turn me in,” he confides, foolishly underestimating the police.

In print and in person, the real life Marks is a colourful character as he recounts those heady days with humour and candour.

The screen version of Mr Nice makes Marks's story seem rather pedestrian and the second half of the film becomes repetitive as Howard and his family play cat and mouse with the authorities.

Ifans delivers a confident and at times amusing lead performance while Sevigny struggles in vain with the English accent, begging the question, why was an American actress, albeit a hugely talented one, cast in the pivotal role?

However, Rose's film really sparks to life when Thewlis is on screen, barely clinging to his character's sanity.

Chewing scenery as if he hasn't eaten for a week, he delivers the one performance that shines brighter than the fabulous costumes and production design that evoke the era so well.