Every so often, you stumble across a little gem of a film that simply steals your heart away, and this certainly tops that list. I must admit that the title of this surprisingly moving film threw me for a loop... I thought it was about angry pit bulls or WWII flying aces, but that was just the "in joke" of this tale of young men on their way to war. I had always thought of River Phoenix as simply another Johnny Depp, just another teenaged heartthrob. But I was so, so wrong. He shined in this movie like a diamond in the rough, with a clarity and beauty rare to see, and wonderful to behold. Combined with a very underrated Lili Taylor in the co-starring role, this film reached a place in my heart that very, very few films are even capable of. On a side note, after catching Taylor in this amazing role, I had the good fortune of meeting her in a little dim sum joint in NYC, many years later. She was very gracious. And when I asked her of her personal thoughts on a long-passed River Phoenix, of him she said, "He was a sensitive young man... maybe too sensitive for this world." Amen.
Review of Dogfight
