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It's the Olsen twins to the rescue once again in their straight-to-video release, Billboard Dad. With Venice, California, serving as a Bohemian backdrop, the preteen queens of the dead-mom genre scheme to find their widowed father a girlfriend by turning a Hollywood billboard into a personal ad. Breezy predictability ensues: Dad gets thousands of letters and dates a series of progressively weirder women before bumping into Ms. Right. Since Dad's a successful sculptor, true love destroys the angst behind his profitable art. As his agent tries to drive a wedge between the lovebirds, the twins become unwitting accomplices. All of this just sets the stage, really, for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to do their thing--they are way cool, fashionable, and mature beyond their preteen years--with their equally hip friends, who have a drama of their own unfolding on the diving team. Nothing truly unexpected happens, but it doesn't matter. In other words, parents, don't watch this alone.

Maxwell Tyler is an overworked single artist. His girls, Emily and Tess, see how much he has changed since their mother died. The girls are on a mission to help their father find true love again. They paint a billboard to advertise their dad. It makes the news. Their father is not all that happy about it. Maxwell's agent is a shady character. Maxwell's agent tries everything to discourage potential relationships between Maxwell and other women. Emily and Tess soon catch on to that. Although I don't watch many Mary-Kate and Ashley movies, I really liked this one. Emily and Tess have a sense of duty to their father, to help him regain a part of his life that was destroyed when his first wife died. It is a touching story with a surprising ending. This movie is aimed at the younger generation of viewers. However, I would recommend it to anyone.

Tess and Emily Tyler (Olsen twins) live with their widowed father, Maxwell (Tom Amandes) in Venice, California. Maxwell is a sculptor who has thrown himself into his work after his wife's death. Naturally, the girls want to see their father in a happier state of mind. At a friend's suggestion, Tess and Emily repaint a neighborhood billboard with their father's vital information. Women respond! While dad is starting to date, the twins are also going to diving meets. Will Dad find true love, even as the Tyler girls are winning diving competitions?

This adorable movie is certain to win the hearts of females, young and old. Amandes does wonderfully in his search for a mate, even when it requires him to go on a string of bizarre and funny dates. Mary-Kate and Ashley are charming and they don't miss a beat of the humorous script. No, it's not Shakespeare. But even Will himself might call this a merry romp. Recommended for those who are tickled to find a romantic, upbeat, family-friendly movie.

As with "Our Lips Are Sealed," I found this to be one of the better Olsen movies. The sets are beautiful; then again, Southern California is usually beautiful. Some of the acting is a little cheesy, especially on the character Nigel's part; this is inevitable in most children's movies, however. Overall, this movie is cute and harmless fun with a semi-unique storyline to boot. I give it a 10 in the field of Olsen movies, because I feel that it can't be rated against mainstream blockbusters such as "Crash" or "Braveheart." I would definitely recommend this movie if you're looking for a good family movie that adults and children can tolerate and enjoy.

While I did indeed know that this movie existed, I actually never have seen it before now in 2025. It is not that I didn't have the chance before, but I just never took the time to do so. But I finally opted to check it out here in 2025, and see what writer Maria Jacquemetton and director Alan Metter had to offer.

The storyline in the movie was pretty straightforward, but it was not really a narrative that appealed all that much to me. I am not saying that the story was bad, it just failed to entertain me properly. I found it to be a bit too generic and devoid of entertaining moments.

Of the entire cast ensemble in the movie, I was only familiar with leading actresses Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen. The acting performances in the movie were good.

"Billboard Dad" is watchable, sure, but it was a rather forgettable movie, and most definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. The movie is definitely something that will find a wider appeal with a pre-teen female audience.

My rating of director Alan Metter's 1998 movie "Billboard Dad" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.