by Leighton Smith

Created on: June 30, 2009

One of the great film genres is war. The Vietnam War, in particular, has been the basis for some of the greatest movies ever made, such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now and many others. The scope of these movies tends to focus mainly on the action in Vietnam, with the exception of Full Metal Jacket in which roughly half of the movie is dedicated to basic training in the United States. There is, however, another aspect of war that very few movies cover: the night before shipping out. While the possibilities for such a movie are certainly not numerous, and such a story would inevitably lead into explicit subject matter, the movie Dogfight succeeds and establishes itself as one of the great Vietnam era films.

The title of the movie refers to a ritual performed by marines destined for deployment. Said ritual entails finding a date to bring to a dance, where she will be judged based on her appearance. The "winner" of the contest is the girl or woman who is found to be the ugliest, while other deformities - such as missing teeth - could make a girl who is not necessarily the ugliest the winner.

With such a sensitive topic as this, our emotions are quickly tapped into by the film's director, Nancy Savoka. Not surprisingly, comic relief plays a very important role in Dogfight. Leading up to the dance, we are treated with seeing the four marines the movie focuses on attempt to find dates. It is gut-wrenching stuff watching them scour San Francisco for the homeliest women they can find, but their methods of coercing the suspicious prospects are truly funny.

Most of the movie centers on marine Eddie Birdlace, played by River Phoenix, and the girl who he is attempting to take to the dogfight, Rose Fenny, played by Lily Taylor. We can see that Birdlace is torn between being the macho marine and the innocent 18-year old that he is. Phoenix's portrayal is simply inspired, and the myriad situations he finds himself in with Rose are excellent if for no other reason than his acting. Taylor more than holds her own, making for some excellent exchanges between the two characters throughout the story.

In one of the movie's most memorable scenes, we find Eddie alone with Rose up in her bedroom. The dogfight has come and gone, and the two have been through a lot, especially when you consider that their relationship has spanned only one day. There is an obvious expectation of what is to follow, yet before they commence

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