Dogfight is a 1991 period coming-of-age drama film set in San Francisco, California, during the 1960s and directed by Nancy Savoca. The film explores the love between an 18-year-old Marine, Lance Corporal Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix) on his way to Vietnam, and a young woman, Rose Fenny (Lili Taylor).
Plot
The film begins on November 21, 1963, the day before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Lance Corporal Birdlace and three of his Marine buddies have arrived in San Francisco for a twenty-four hour leave before shipping off to Okinawa, and are planning on attending a "dogfight" later that evening, a party at which Marines compete to bring the ugliest date, unbeknownst to the girls. They separate to look for dates. After a few women reject his advances, Birdlace ducks into a coffee shop, where he encounters Rose, a waitress, on her break, practicing on her guitar. She is not particularly ugly, but rather plain, shy and awkward. Birdlace attempts to charm her, complimenting her on her guitar playing, and invites her to a party. She is suspicious of his motives, but decides to accept his invitation.
While walking to the bar where the dogfight is to be held, Birdlace begins to have second thoughts about playing such a cruel trick on Rose after realizing she's not ugly enough to compete, and attempts to talk her out of going in. However, when they encounter one of Birdlace's buddies and his date in front of the bar, he has no choice but to proceed inside with Rose. Birdlace proceeds to get drunk, presumably feeling guilty. Shortly after, Rose convinces Birdlace to dance with her, though at first he resists because he knows the dance floor is where the dates will be judged. The alcohol and dancing eventually make Rose feel dizzy, and she rushes off to be sick in the rest room. Marcie, the date brought by Birdlace's friend Berzin, is declared the winner. In the ladies' room, it is revealed that Marcie is actually a prostitute whom Berzin has hired, in violation of the rules of the dogfight, cluing Rose in to the true nature of the party. Rose is devastated and tears into Birdlace, then storms off. Birdlace immediately regrets having treated Rose so cruelly, and chases after her. He convinces her to let him buy her dinner in an attempt to make it up to her.
After dinner, the two walk to a club where Rose hopes to perform soon, and then to an arcade. Birdlace is surprised to find himself enjoying spending time with Rose, so much so that he forgets that he was to have met up with his three buddies at a tattoo parlor to get matching tattoos to solidify their friendship. Rose tells Birdlace about her dream of becoming a folk singer, and he reveals to her that he will be shipping off to Okinawa the following day, and from there on to "a little country called Vietnam," he hopes. She offers to write to him, and asks if he will write back. Birdlace walks Rose home, and they share an awkward moment on her doorstep before she hesitantly invites him in. They attempt to talk, but end up having a self-conscious yet tender sexual encounter.
As he is leaving at dawn, Rose gives him her address and asks him to write. Birdlace meets up with his buddies as they board their bus. Birdlace makes up a story about not showing up because he spent the night with the beautiful wife of an officer. Berzin later shares with Birdlace that he saw him with Rose; Birdlace counters that he is aware that Berzin's date, Marcie, was actually a prostitute. They agree to keep one another's secrets, as Birdlace tears up Rose's address and throws it out the window of the bus.
The next day, Rose weeps and watches coverage of President Kennedy's assassination on TV with her mother. Later, in 1966, Birdlace and his three friends have been deployed to Chu Lai, South Vietnam. While playing cards, they are suddenly hit with a mortar, and chaos ensues; Birdlace is wounded in the leg, and Berzin and Oakie drag him away and tell him that Benjamin is dead, before another mortar round hits.
A year later, Birdlace gets off a Greyhound bus in San Francisco. Discharged from the Marines, he now walks with a limp, and it is suggested that his three friends were all killed in combat. He is taken aback by how much things have changed since he was last there, with hippies and flower children everywhere. He walks to the neighborhood where Rose's coffee shop is, and goes to a bar across the street to have a drink. The bartender tells him that Rose's mother has turned the coffee shop over to Rose. Birdlace makes his way across the street and into the coffee shop. Rose, not having heard from him in three years, is surprised to see him, and can only say "hi". She goes over to him, and they embrace.