America’s favourite vampire keeps popping up in various movies that we either forgot about or never heard about. One such film is The Bad Mother’s Handbook, a one-off television drama based on the best-selling novel by Kate Long. It was broadcast on ITV in England in 2007, and made its way to DVD in North America this month. Starring Catherine Tate, Anne Reid, Holly Grainger and Robert Pattinson, the show received strong viewing when it was originally shown on television.

The Bad Mother’s Handbook depicts the story of one year in the lives of three women. Tate plays Karen, who is a frustrated woman in her thirties whose whole life and identity are shattered when she discovers a long-kept secret. Grainger plays Karen’s clever and hormonal teenage daughter Charlotte, while Anne Reid appears as Karen’s mother, Nan, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Pattinson is Charlotte’s nerdy new friend, Daniel Gale.

The movie presents an insight into the life of motherhood and childhood, dwelling on the themes that no two mothers are alike, but that ultimately love is the most important thing of all.

It’s a bit like a British version of Juno, with the exception that none of the characters are loveable. In fact, the only real emotional response is the hate one feels for Karen. Grainger plays Karen perfectly as a heartless “bad” mother. It takes her daughter’s venture into motherhood before she breaks down and shows her affection. Pattinson is more of a supporting character, which started off dry and lame, but eventually grew on me.

Maybe it’s the “chick-flick” factor, but I just didn’t understand the need for this movie. Similar to Juno, it wasn’t really a love story or a compelling look at one’s life, but more of a hard luck look at a chapter in the character’s lives. As a book it has a place and is well written, but as a movie it seems rather lame.

Source

If we’re to believe the DVD box art, “The Bad Mother’s Handbook” will give the boy-crazy fans of dreamy “Twilight” vampire Robert Pattinson a lingering look at his dreamy face.

Alas, this is sleight of hand.

In all but his final scene, Pattinson is wearing glasses that Michael Caine would laugh at, and straggly hair covers his eyes. Playing a socially awkward transfer student, Pattinson is constantly looking at the floor to boot. His supporting role deserves, at best, fourth-billing.
The pleasant surprise is that this 2007 British TV movie — obviously released on DVD here to cash in on Pattinsonmania — is funny, dramatic, well-written and watchable.

The film belongs to three characters. Karen (Catherine Tate) is a single mom who has had it up to here with submerging her needs and identity to care for her ailing and increasingly absent-minded mother, Nan (Anne Reid), not to mention her bratty teenage daughter, Charlotte (Holly Grainger).

Pattinson is quite good as a boy from an upper-class family who falls for lower-class Charlotte, helping her through the pregancy with advice on the right kind of desserts. (Soft ice cream from a truck is a no-no.)
DVD extras include the U.S. trailer, which makes “The Bad Mother’s Handbook” seem like an “American Pie” sequel. Subtitles will help you decipher all of that British slang. (Hint: “Summat” means “something.”)

MixUpTeam is selling The Bad Mother’s Handbook on DVD!

According to Indians42 from Rob’s IMDB message board,

My sister is a big Ben Barnes and Colin Firth fan and she just got her copy of Dorian Gray. When she opened it she was pleasantly surprised with a picture of Rob on the inside jacket from The Haunted Airman. She popped in the DVD and there was a trailer for The Haunted Airman DVD. Nice.

Daniel (Robert Pattinson) has been spending a lot of time with his crush, Charlotte, who has just learned she is pregnant. Daniel helps Charlotte with her pregnancy struggles and finds himself on a memorable 9-month journey with three independent, outspoken women. Through the tears, laughter and love, this dysfunctional family finds a way to stick it out together.

“THE BAD MOTHER’S HANDBOOK”

Lionsgate, $26.98, available Tuesday.

Grade: B

Robert Pattinson made this British dramedy in 2007 P.T. (pre- “Twilight”), which explains his top billing on the DVD. But the heartthrob isn’t central to why this small, sweet film delivers. Based on the best-selling UK book of the same name, the movie about three generations of women struggling to survive accomplishes so much in its modest 70 minutes.

Catherine Tate powers the cast as Karen, a single mom sandwiched between her aging mother and outspoken teenage daughter Charlotte (Holliday Grainger). Karen’s unexpected discovery that she was adopted and Charlotte’s unplanned pregnancy set the scene for lovely performances that will remind viewers of the mid-1990s hit “Secrets and Lies.”

Pattinson’s supporting turn as a geek with a crush on Charlotte is slightly hysterical. His character, Daniel, sports an anti- Edward bowl haircut, sweater vests and thick black eyeglasses, but his jerky movements are overly awkward, even for a nerdy teen. The disc contains no extras. – JILL RADSKEN

Source

Before Robert Pattinson won the adoration the world’s teenagers for playing Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga” franchise, he had already made his mark in film. His 2007 comedy-drama “The Bad Mother’s Handbook” is finally due to be released on August 24.

Pattinson stars as Daniel Gale, a teen who is in love with Charlotte Cooper (Holly Grainger). However, things take an interesting turn for Daniel when he discovers Charlotte may be pregnant.

Meanwhile, as the nine months pass, the young man gets to know Charlotte’s family, which includes her mother, Karen (Catherine Tate), who gave birth to her daughter when she was a teenager as well.

Although Pattinson is best known for starring in “Twilight,” there are plenty of other films that fans of his work may enjoy. In fact, the tearjerker “Remember Me,” which also stars Emilie de Ravin, was just released on DVD.

The talented performer also starred in the independent drama “Little Ashes,” in which he played the renowned Spanish artist Salvador Dali.

Being pasty, mopey and filled with indescribable longing isn’t just for sparkly vampires anymore.

Twilight’s Robert Pattinson shows off his acting chops in The Bad Mother’s Handbook, a 2007 BBC family drama in which the future Edward Cullen plays a super uncomfortable, scarf-wearing nerd—and is totally adorable at it, sigh—who begins a sweet romance with a pregnant classmate.

Hitting DVD on Aug. 24, on the heels of Eclipse, the film also stars Dr. Who’s Catherine Tate, which adds immeasurably to its potent combination of nerd-chic and romantic angst. Check out some of the R.Pattziest parts in the clip above. You like?

DVD Menu screencaps:

Click here for more info! Thanks to Robsessed Spain for the heads up!

Super intelligent guys who like comic books and Magic: The Gathering are very rarely hot. Thankfully, Hollywood takes creative license and casts dreamy actors to play these characters instead of subjecting us to reality. And somehow, Robert Pattinson manages to make the most uncomfortably nerdy character seem kind of hot in “The Bad Mother’s Handbook,” a British drama that comes out on DVD on August 24. [People]

Source

Before he became a household name with the “Twilight Saga” movies, international heartthrob Robert Pattinson played a bumbling nerd in a made-for-TV movie that aired in Britain in 2007. And now, thanks to Pattinson’s popularity, the film, “The Bad Mother’s Handbook,” is being released on DVD for the first time.

People.com has a first look at the trailer for the dramedy, out August 24. In the movie, Pattinson sports a very different look than his well-gelled vampire trademark. Instead, he looks dorky, playing the bespectacled, floppy-haired, hapless suitor to a girl in his class who wants nothing to do with him — until she finds out she’s pregnant. The actress Catherine Tate, a big star in the UK for her role in “Dr. Who,” plays the teenage girl’s control-freak mother. The movie is based on the bestselling novel of the same name.

Pattinson isn’t the first “Twilight” star to see one of his past roles unearthed in order to capitalize on his newfound fame: his costar Kristen Stewart‘s 2008 indie film “The Yellow Hankerchief” got a similar marketing push after the “Twilight” phenomenon increased demand for all things related to the actress.

In other Robert Pattinson news this week, TMZ compared a shot of the actor on set filming another role to Jason Priestley in the ’90s TV show “90210,” and a distressingly lifelike sculpture of Pattinson’s head sold for $1,399 on eBay.

Source