It's 1963, Eddie and his four best friends are all marines who have one night to spend before leaving the country. In this night the marines are going to play a game known as " Dogfight " where each of them have to search for the ugliest girl to bring to the dance, where they will be judged and the one who will bring the ugliest girl will win a prize. Of course the poor girls have no idea about the dogfight, they think the marines are truly into them. Eddie goes out into the streets looking for that girl, but all his chances in approaching girls were useless. Until it started raining and Eddie goes into a cafe shop to rest, there in a cafe he meets Rose, who her mother owns the cafe shop. He immediately talks to her to make her seem interested and then ask her to come to the party with him. Poor Rose goes to the party all dressed up and excited, then the story continues where Rose finds out about the dogfight, she will get hurt and slaps Eddie on the face. Eddie on the other hand feels lost and very upset and asks Rose for forgiveness by taking her to dinner. He will fall in Love with this girl who has a big heart and beautiful smile. I can't describe how beautiful it is just watch it already!! the discourages are filled with swear words thought :D Well, obviously River Phoenix is one of my all time favorite actor. I can't even count how many times I've watched this movie. I absolutely love it!! somehow this movie from the beginning until it ends it just makes me happy and changes my mood. It's cute, romantic, hilarious, and it makes me cry too. I Love Love the relationship between Liz Taylor and River in this movie, I adore them both. Plus, The soundtrack is amazing!!! and everything is on point.

"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.

I saw this movie when it was released and found the story line to be very touching. It was set in a time that most of us can relate to. Actually, if you have lived through any war and watched the soldiers leave for active duty, you know the pangs young lovers experience when they say goodbye. I thought the actors all did a great job with their respective parts, especially Richard Panebianco, who played the part of Berzin and had the winning date. The scene on the dance floor was very funny. I would liked to have seen more of his character. The two stars Lili and River, were, as always, very good. This flick runs on TV every so often and if I catch it, I watch it - again and again.

Interesting story focusing on hot-tempered, booze-loving, foul-mouthed Eddie Birdlace (brilliantly played by river phoenix)and his quest for an ugly-duckling to take with him to a dogfight. birdlace and his three friends each put in money for a bet, the one who takes the ugliest date to the dogfight wins the pot of money. Just before the dogfight begins, birdlace begins to have feelings for his date and as the movie progresses he falls deeper and deeper in love with her. Rose, his date to the dogfight (brilliantly played by Lili Taylor)also begins to fall in love with Eddie. There is romance, comedy, drama, swearing and lots more. This brilliantly acted and affectionate movie is well-worth watching and will probably have some in tears at the end. Co-stars include Richard Panebianco, Anthony Clark and Mitchell Whitfield. This film definitely won my approval, a well acted movie which is well cast down to the small roles. I give it a strong 9 out of 10.