Beefed up and buzz-cut to play a 1963 marine partying hard in San Francisco before getting shipped overseas, River Phoenix busts out of his usual sensitive mode (
Running on Empty, Stand by Me) to deliver a performance of blunt intensity. In the early scenes of
Dogfight, it looks as if he'd found a movie to match. Written by Bob Comfort, a former marine, and directed by Nancy Savoca, who debuted with the gritty
True Love in 1989,
Dogfight has a provocative premise. The 4 B's -- Birdlace