Dogfight

Savoca skilfully negotiates the nastiness of the opening scenes: four Marines organise a party, the object of which is to see who can bring along the most unattractive date. She is almost as successful with the potentially maudlin central section, after Phoenix has picked up Taylor, and remorse segues into affection and tenderness. But the opening title - 'November 1963' - signals certain inevitable moments: the news from Dallas, the reference to the Marines' next posting ('some little country near India, called Vietnam'). A 1966 coda represents America feeling very sorry for itself, and is unlikely to tug many heartstrings outside the family.