Movie Of The Month -- "Free Satchie"

Our movie of the month is a heartwarming tale of love between a child and a Newfie. The film was almost entirely ripped off by the producers of a multi-million dollar grossing film in which the Newfie was replaced by an Orca but finally, after years of litigation, the based-on-could-be-real event story of "Free Satchie" has been released to worldwide rave reviews. According to the New York Times:

"The film begins with a pod of Newfies swimming near the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, this family of Newfies is tracked down by a large group of Newf-hunters, and a single Newfie (Satchie) gets caught in their net. Unable to save him, his family (Lisa and Phantom) leaves him behind, and he is taken away to a local amusement park.
Sometime later Andy, a street-wise boy who has been on the run since he was abandoned by his mother (Heidey) six years before, gets caught by The San Francisco Police Department vandalizing the marina along with a gang of three other abandoned kids. However, his social worker (Clairice) helps him avoid legal consequences, provided he cleans up his mess at the marina. While there, Andy befriends the Newfie, who has an injured toe, named Satchie by the park owners, and teaches him behaviors, something the trainer, Philly, had failed to do. Over time, Andy and Satchie become the best of friends, and Andy earns a long-term job at the marina while learning to live with his new and supportive foster parents, Dougey and Cindey.
The owners of the amusement park (Davey & Terry) see the talent Andy and Satchie have together, and make large-scale plans to host "The Satchie Show" in hopes of boosting sales and making money for themselves. On the day of the first performance, everyone is set to begin, but Satchie comes down with stage fright due to the children banging constantly on his underwater observation area. Satchie scares them off by smashing against the tank, unintentionally damaging it. Andy is devastated, but later returns to the tank and determines ultimately that Satchie is homesick for his family, as evidenced by Satchie's nightly "singing".
While at the tank, Andy notices one of the park owners' assistants (Sophie) sneaking into the underwater observation area who damages the tank enough that the water will gradually leak out in an effort to further injure Satchie's big toe. It is surmised that the park owners are interested in collecting the insurance money, since they have a $5,000,000 life insurance plan on Satchie.
Thus, Andy and his friends begin plans to release the Newfie. They use equipment at the park to load Satchie onto a trailer, and Andy and his friends (Gizzy, Hummer, Axl & Bella) 'borrow' his foster parents' truck to tote Satchie to the ocean. They try to stick to back roads to keep from being spotted with a gigantic Terranova, and eventually get stuck on a back road. Meanwhile, the park owners are notified that the Newfie is missing, and they and their henchmen (including Philly) begin a search to find Satchie.
Andy must admit that he needs help, and calls his foster parents using a CB-Radio located in the truck they took. Dougey and Cindey show up and are able to help free the truck, and continue on to the marina they are headed to, in order to release Satchie. The owner knows where they are likely headed, and when they show up, he and his henchmen are blocking the gate into the marina. Dougey charges them full speed in the truck, forcing the henchmen to move right before Satchie's ride plows through the gate to the marina. Dougey quickly turns the truck around and backs up Satchie into the water, flooding his truck in the process.
Satchie is finally released into the water, but the park owners and their goons have a contingency plan. The Newf-hunters show up in the water, releasing nets into the water to trap Satchie in the marina. Andy has one last chance. He leads Satchie to an area where if Satchie would just jump, he would be free. Amidst everyone's prayers, Satchie makes the jump, to the amazement of all his friends, and is free to return to his family. The film ends with the happy trainers and newly formed family watching Satchie swim away back to his home at Parker's Landing."

"A heartwarming film for the entire family. A must for your dog. Let's hope there's a sequel."
(San Francisco Comicle)

"Two paws up."
(Roger Ebert)

"When I wasn't laughing, I cried the entire time."
(Phillipedia Free Press)

"The most fictional piece of %&*# I've ever seen"
(McCain Not-So-Free Press)