DOGFIGHT-Summary (River Phoenix)

[Christina Preuss]

Hello,

if someone is interested in the story of "Dogfight" with River Phoenix
(one of my favourite films),
here is a summary:

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Dogfight USA 1991
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director Nancy Savoca
book Bob Comfort
camera Bobby Bukowski
music Mason Daring
equipment (?) Lester W. Cohen
cut John Tintori
sound John Sutton
costumes Eugenie Bafaloukos

player
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River Phoenix (Eddie Birdlace)
Lili Taylor (Rose Fenney)
Richard Panebianco (Berzin)
Anthony Clark (Okie)
Mitchell Whitfield (Benjamin)
Holly Near (Rose Sr.)
E.G. Daily (Marcie)
Sue Morales (Ruth Two Bears)
Christina Mastin (Linda)
Christopher Shaw (Donavin)
John Lacy (Fector)

producers Peter Newman, Richard Guay
production Peter Newman, Warner Bros.
length 92 min.
format 35mm, colour

On the eve of November 21, 1963, the night before they leave for
Vietnam, Eddie Birdlace and his three marine buddies hit the streets
of San Francisco. Not after ordinary partners, they separately scout
for a "dog" thet might win the large cash prize for most gruesome
date. After a little trouble, Birdlace manages to locate a candidate
in young waitress Rose Fenney and drags the painfully shy and
unsuspecting young lady along to the night-club. In the ladies' room,
Rose learns all about the dogfight; she tells Birdlace off in front of
everyone and leaves. Birdlace, drunk as he may be, follows her to
apologize. He wants to take her to a "regular date" to make up for
what he's done. They end up walking around the city and finding out
about each other. Rose's ambition is to be a folksinger, while his is
to go to Vietnam. The night ends after they make love. Four years
later, Birdlace has lost all three of his friends in the war. He
returns to San Francisco, steps into Rose's empty restaurant and sees
her in the back ...

"There are some uneasy moments early in DOGFIGHT, as the camera
searches for ugly women. The director Nancy Savoca rushes into
dangerous territory with a story that is a minefield of potential
insults. [...] But DOGFIGHT turns out to be quite a subversive little
film. This intelligent, affecting movie undermines its own macho
premise, tosses out conventional images of beauty and turns at least
one movie clich\'e upside down. As in TRUE LOVE, her shrewd, 1989
comedy about an Italian-American wedding. Ms. Savoca reinvents an old
story and creates astonishing sympathy for characters who are making
wrong-headed decisions as fast as they can. [...] DOGFIGHT is,
finally, not about being a marine or being ugly - its ostensible
dramatic subjects. It is about being a woman and being plain. But if
Ms. Savoca had said she intended to make a movie about an insecure,
ordinary woman, who would have listened?" (Caryn James, The New York
Times).

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