No, this isn't the Michael Vick biography, nor is it a tale of aerial combat during World War I. Rather, what "Dogfight" gives us is the story of a group of Marines who, in 1963 San Francisco, engage in a contest to see who can bring the ugliest girl to a party. River Phoenix, playing Cpl. Eddie Birdlace, chooses plain-looking waitress Rose Fenny in his bid for the prize money, but when Rose learns what is going on, the callous "jarhead" finds out that there's a lot more beneath that homely surface than he could have ever imagined.... I originally rented this one out after reading an article about it in Danny Peary's fun book "Alternate Oscars," in which he makes the case for Lili Taylor being more deserving of the 1991 Best Actress award than Jodie Foster, who won that year for "The Silence of the Lambs." Though I personally feel that Mimi Rogers should have won that dubious honor in '91 for her startling performance in "The Rapture," I must admit that Taylor does some very impressive work here as the surprisingly resilient, sweet, spunky and charming Rose, a supposedly ugly duckling who even the chauvinistic and foul-mouthed Eddie comes to realize is a blessing in his life. Phoenix impresses here also, letting us see the inner-core decency buried deep beneath the Marine bravado. Featuring a terrific soundtrack largely composed of early '60s folk songs (with a particularly fine use of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") and sensitive direction by Nancy Savoca, "Dogfight" is a sweet little film that is certainly well worth any viewer's time. How wonderful it is to see Rose blossom by the film's end! And her statement "I don't think it's fair to prejudge people on how they look or how they're dressed" is one that it would be well to remember. I cannot imagine anyone not being charmed by this overlooked little winner, and recommend it wholeheartedly to all IMDb viewers.
