everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Brilliant and touching

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

"Dogfight" is one of my favorite movies and I am a picky movie watcher. Its one of the only films about the Vietnam War that doesn't actually take place in the actual war. Instead, the focus is right here and how its effecting us here. The film stars River Phoenix and Lili Taylor in my favorite roles of theirs as Eddie Birdlace and Rose Fenny, respectively.The film takes place in 1963, specifically the day before John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Eddie Birdlace (Phoenix) is one of four soon-to-be-shipped-out marines who is looking for a date for a marines' night out. After searching all day, he comes across Rose Fenny (Taylor) who works at her mother's diner. She agrees to go with him but later discovers that it is a "dogfight": a competition where the ugliest woman the marines can find is the winner.The reason I truly love (and I mean LOVE) this film is the simple romance. There is no kissing in the rain, no fireworks, no chasing the woman at the airport before her flight takes off or any of that lame and cheesy stuff Hollywood does now. Its just Eddie and Rose talking and laughing and having a good time together. Sometimes, just showing people live their lives is enough. Life as we know it IS interesting. You don't need the "...you complete me" or the "public proclamation of love" to be interesting. I enjoyed seeing Eddie and Rose's love evolve naturally and realistically.Phoenix and Taylor have unique chemistry. The viewer can tell they want to fall in love but don't know how. They see the bridge, but don't have the courage to cross it. That's powerful and you can see that through the acting. There is a lot funny moments and well executed dramatic moments. The end (which I won't spoil) is one of the BEST endings to a romantic film I have ever seen.The acting is amazing. The story is simple yet so beautiful and realistic. The characters are relatable and real and likable. The directing is perfect. The atmosphere is perfect. The music selections are great and represent the times perfectly. The dialogue is great; the characters say things that we people say in real life.There are absolutely NO WORDS to describe how much I love this movie. Its a shame its not more well known and I wish more people knew about it. This film puts recent romantic films and romantic comedies to shame. Forget about Jennifer Aniston, Katherine Heigl or Sarah Jessica Parker romantic films. Watch "Dogfight"...you won't be sorry and you may look at life a little differently.

"Dogfight" is a surprising film. With that in mind I'm not saying that you're gonna see things you never see before. It's more like that you can enjoy a nice movie with many predictable moments and still be delighted with it. It's very good to just sit and watch and forget everything that comes to mind. It doesn't demand too much of the viewer and that sometimes it's a great thing.It's the simple story of four marines that make a bet between each other before they go to Vietnam. They play a game called "Dogfight" and which one of them has to go out with a ugly girl and take her to a party and the guy who gets the most ugliest of the girls wins the game and a prize. But something happens with the young Eddie (played by the always gifted River Phoenix) when he mets his "ugly girl" Rose (Lili Taylor) a sweet girl who works in her mother's restaurant. In the beginning, when they met each other we seen that something different might happen. He's charming, tells all the things she wants to hear and she follows him into this party. When she discovers the truth and leaves Eddie he follows her and apologizing for his behavior and the behavior of his friends he asks her to go out with him because it's his last night in U.S. The rest of the movie is a collection of moments that you've probably saw it before but here it really works, Taylor and Phoenix's chemistry is incredible, both actors played very well their parts. For an instance I wished that this movie had only these extremely young talented actors in scene (most of the scenes are only played by both). Notice the little special appearance of Brendan Fraser in his first film (very funny scene). River's fans will love it. 10/10

I have been reading IMDb for years and was always so lazy to register an account (pathetic I know). But this movie is an old favorite of mine so I decided to give in and I've used it for advice to many young men I know. I am honestly not trying to be off color here, but if you ever have a woman over and you wanna be with her, put this movie on. I will 100% guarantee you that you will be getting laid in about 102 minutes. How long you last after that is up to you.This movie is downright adorable. All the women love Eddie and all the guys love Rose who watch it Theirs no getting around it. It's a fairy tale and the ending says...happily ever after (sort of). The fact that we have a Woman Director (and I believe writer), i'll double check later, gives us a different prospective here. Typically young angst films feature boys desperately trying to get laid from pretty blondes who want nothing to do with you even though if they ever learned the true you they would change their minds (this only happens in film btw). But here, we have the lady killer, River Phoenix, forced into the Marines (which makes him probably even more attractive) with the sensitive Rose (even her name is delicate). A women you only dream of meeting (once you realize how horrific pretty women can be). Two people brought together in circumstances that root from evil and the end result is love. Ahhh, cute indeed.This movie makes film-making look easy. Everything here just works. Rent this movie, buy a decent bottle of wine, vacuum up your toenails from the carpet, and invite a nice lady over already.

DOGFIGHT is one of favorite films. The two leads actors share perfect a chemistry, making their interaction a pleasure to watch. Not to mention, Mr. Phoenix's screen presence is incredible. In fact, I could've followed him around the whole night. Furthermore, there is a great amount of foreshadowing on and off the screen. When Eddie (Phoenix) discusses Vietnam, he mentions its a small mess and that he'll be back in a few months. We, however, know that a different course lies ahead. In addition, this is one of Mr. Phoenix's final films, a glimpse of a magnificent only two years before his tragic demise. As a result, actor-character parallel almost each other, which I found to be truly sad. In addition, I give my credits to Bob and Nancy for executing a perfect ending. Yet, for me, this picture will always be a testament to one of the finest actors of our generation; may his spirit live on.Ted's Grade: A-