BILLBOARD DAD is a tailor-made script that allows nearly-pubescent child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to demonstrate a tad more acting skill and presence than they had as moppets. The problem is that they're still driving the same sitcom-esque vehicle: twin buttinskis playing Cupid for
their single dad.
Sports-loving Tess Tyler (Mary-Kate Olsen) and her brainy twin Emily (Ashley Olsen), won't be truly content as long as their dad Max (Tom Amandes) keeps mourning for his late wife. A successful sculptor, Max is managed by conniving agent Nigel (Carl Banks), who doesn't want Max's depressing (but
profitably trendy) style to change.
Knowing their lonely dad needs prodding, the twins paint a singles' ad on an LA billboard; as the billboard garners attention, Max is inundated with marriage offers. During a date with Debbie (Ellen Ratner), Max instead becomes attracted to her friend Brooke Anders (Jessica Tuck), a single mom
with an unruly son, Ryan (Sam Selatta).
Distraught over Max's declining productivity while he courts Brooke, Nigel doctors a taped phone conversation in order to persuade the eavesdropping twins that Brooke is a gold digger. He also lets Brooke misinterpret Max's innocent relationship with a nubile model. After Brooke and Max split up,
Ryan overhears Nigel plotting to sell mass-market copies of Max's sculptures. Tess and Emily secretly record Nigel's admission of guilt, and publicly discredit him at Max's exhibition. Max and Brooke patch up their differences, and loner Ryan and the twins become friends.
Intended as wholesome family fare, BILLBOARD DAD is a tapioca pudding filled with a few lumps, including an excess of practical jokes perpetrated by the twin terrors, horrendous acting by Tom Amandes as the wussy father and Carl Banks as the flamboyant art-parasite, and an air of familiarity that
chokes the merriment like a thick smog. To their credit, the Olsen girls slam across the hoary gags and syrupy sentiment for their fans. But the Olsen-phobic will be less likely to enjoy the adventures of these Miss Fix-Its as they meddle in adult matters and presume to know what's best for
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