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Dogfight (1991)
Authentic, profoundly human story
This film took me by surprise in all the best of ways. It's a beautiful example of female directing: tender yet unsentimental, empathetic, authentic...this is the kind of movie that would likely lose many of its best qualities under a male director. The main actors' performances are beautifully real, with their characters' respective flaws highlighted as much as their strengths. The rawness of its elements of coming-of-age and first love underlined with the time period of major change in American society, plus River's character's impending deployment to Vietnam makes for a simple yet extremely poignant story. Dogfight's subtle moments are some of its very best, and the last 20 minutes or so are pretty emotionally devastating.
I saw this for the first time in a film history class, after we had screened American Graffiti the class before. I didn't dislike American Graffiti, but I can't help but feel like Dogfight did everything that American Graffiti was trying to do more effectively, and on an even smaller scale. They are certainly different films, but they deal with a lot of the same emotions and experiences in a similar time period and setting, and both take place mostly over the course of one night. If you like American Graffiti, or were considering watching it, I highly suggest viewing Dogfight also, or instead.