Let's say you're the casting director for a film like "Dogfight", and it's your job to find unattractive women to fulfill the story's premise. How do you go about that? Let's see, I think you might be homely enough for a role, but we'll have to wait and see if anyone uglier comes along. Turns out that a couple of the dates in this film actually were pretty unsightly, I wonder what they thought about getting picked. In any event, the whole idea behind the story was rather cruel and dehumanizing, so you had to know things would turn around at some point. I liked the way Rose Fenny (Lili Taylor) put Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix) in his place when she found out what the four 'B's' were up to with their brutish behavior. Reluctantly turning into a human being, Eddie attempts to make up for his indiscretion by genuinely treating Rose to a fanciful evening that drew out both of their real personalities. Still in their teens and inexperienced in the ways of love and romance, they awkwardly approach their first kiss with hesitation. I wasn't sure how Rose was going to accept the idea of a one-night stand with a Marine shipping out the next day, but their love scene was handled with taste and discretion via Bob Dylan's approval suggesting 'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright'. Though the final scene of Eddie and Rose reuniting following his three year hitch in the service struck me as somewhat unrealistic, it did bring a sense of closure to a pair of individuals who discovered each other under the most unlikely circumstances.
Review of Dogfight
