Celia
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Amy Adler
Phil (Matt London) is a fairly new widower with three energetic kids. Since this dad is still grieving, he is definitely struggling at home and at work. When his middle child, a boy, is on the verge of a birthday, he rashly promises the lad that he can have anything his heart wants. This turns out to be a dachsund! Well, dad gave his oath. Taking older teen brother and younger sister along, the four family members go to a dog adoption event at a local park. There is ONE weiner dog, a girl canine they love at sight. Naming her Shelley, the family is astonished when, on the way back to the car, a snooty lady (Morgan Fairchild) offers to buy the dog for ten thousand dollars! Nothing doing, its a birthday gift after all. But, one of the events' helpers, Melanie (Alicia Witt) tells the kids she is a judge at the local weiner dog races! Huh, could Shelley be the fast kind of dachsund? It sounds worth pursuing so Phil and Melanie come in contact with one another a couple of times and there may be a few sparks being set off. At the local race, Shelley comes in third, behind snooty lady's choice dog, Princess. This means Shelley can go to the next level. But, hotsy totsy woman begins to make trouble for Phil's family, putting their trip to a future race in doubt. There are other secrets festering, too. Will Shelley prove to be a champion, even as she heals her new family's saddest feelings? This is one great film for families! Yes, it has some formulaic aspects but, overall, its very fun and sweet. Witt and London make a great combination while Fairchild nails her role as the most annoying rich lady ever. All other cast members, including the kids, are wonderful. In addition, the dogs are just adorable, who knew that weiner dogs even raced? Yes, its true and is it a fun concept. Sets, costumes, script and direction are all above average, too. Weekend ahead looking kind of excitement barren? This little movie will remedy that!
kcvtb
Our dachshunds really enjoyed seeing their friends, but our humans thought it was sweet and simple and charming, well above expectations. Morgan Fairchild was meant to be a pain, but the other actors were none of them famous but were surprisingly charming and relaxed and attractive. For a really simple, really inexpensively made, really predictable movie, this one turned out to be way better than we expected. It looks like the hot dog stand chain that is featured in the movie really exists and maybe even runs these races. But it was just a very happy movie to watch. We'd recommend it to anybody and maybe even watch it again if it turns up on an airplane.
somer-yarbrough
This is a really great young family movie. The kids seemed like they had fun filming it. Julian Feder did a really great job as the main character. It had a good moral to the story. I'd have liked to see the "mean woman" be a little nicer to her daughter.I would recommend this movie to families I know who have young kids. I would recommend this movie to people who like dogs. There should be a sequel for Labrador Nationals. It's a great kid movie, especially if you have a wiener dog. It'd definitely a movie that will leave a smile on your face and make you feel happy. All in all I thought it was a good movie and the acting was appropriate for a young audience.
