Dogfight is a 1991 film set in San Francisco, California, during the Vietnam War (1963 – 1966), stars River Phoenix and Lili Taylor and was directed by Nancy Savoca. The film explores the love between an 18-year-old Marine, Corporal Eddie Birdlace, on his way to Vietnam, and a young woman, Rose Fenny. Both lovers are portrayed as innocent and inexperienced: Birdlace is angry and inept, and Fenny is idealistic but unsophisticated. The first portion of the film is set on November 21, 1963 (the day before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated). Birdlace and three of his Marine buddies have arrived in San Francisco for twenty-four hours, before shipping off to Vietnam, and are planning on attending a "dogfight" (a party where Marines compete to bring the ugliest date, unbeknownst to the girls they bring) later that evening. They separate into the city to attempt to find dates. After a few women reject his advances, Birdlace ducks into a coffee shop, where he encounters Rose, a waitress, on her break, practicing her guitar. She is not particularly "ugly", but rather plain, shy and awkward.