Jake Gyllenhaal vs. Tobey Maguire
Battle of the Long-Lashed Heartthrobs

Longtime FT readers may recall that, back in December 1999, we pitted Tobey Maguire and Joaquin Phoenix in "The Battle of the Boyish-yet-Smoldering Next Wave Thespians." Maguire was pegged as the winner, and we think that's proved to be true. (Another eerily prescient detail: we argued that Maguire can "act crop-circles" around Phoenix. Crop circles! How's that for a "Sign," Shyamalan!)

We also suggested that Phoenix would soon succumb to the hot breath of obsolescence, which hasn't quite been borne out. Instead, he forfeited the competition with Maguire by remodeling himself into a lisping pantywaist (in Gladiator) and a suitably marketable sidekick-type (in the aforementioned Signs).

Maguire, too, has undergone a transformation in the last three years: from the dewy-eyed, long-lashed sensitivo of The Ice Storm and Wonder Boys to the wiry and yoga-buffed action star of Spider-Man. Of course, part of what makes him an appealing action star is the clinging residue of his long-lashed sensitivity. But we're guessing that his days of propping up feisty indies and little-watched Civil War dramas with Jewel are now officially over, or at least on semi-permanent hiatus. (Check out his résumé at IMDb -- his four most recent credits all include the words "Spider-Man" in them, including voice work for the Spider-Man videogame.)

But being an ascendant Hollywood hunk is like being a hot-shot gunslinger: no sooner have you dusted off one combatant than a hungry newcomer is sneaking up on your flank. And we think that, if Maguire takes a peek at his flank, he'll find Jake Gyllenhaal, closing fast.

Hollywood abhors a vacuum. (And it's not too crazy about a Dustbuster either -- boom cha!) And now that Tobey has been elevated to carry-a-blockbuster- all-by-his-lonesome status, someone needs to step in and bat his long, sensitive lashes in those now-vacant indie film roles. And from what we've seen, Gyllenhaal's got the lashes, and right here's where he starts batting.

Gyllenhaal is a dead ringer for Maguire, but while Maguire screams New England boarding school, Gyllenhaal has a splash of Goth. (Though his name, ironically, sounds like a New England boarding school: "Students, welcome to Gyllen Hall.")

And has there been a recent Gyllenhaal role that Maguire couldn't have, at one time, played? Okay, besides Bubble Boy, a strange résumé hiccup that Gyllenhaal would like to forget, and convince all of us to do likewise? Suddenly, Gyllenhaal's everywhere: running around in Donnie Darko, bedding Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl, hanging with Dusty Hoffman in Moonlight Mile.

You can almost picture ol' Tobey Maguire looking up from the re-writes for Spider-Man 2 and sighing wistfully. Sure, Maguire can still bat those lashes occasionally, but now he has to do it at Kirsten Dunst in front of a blue screen, where Dr. Octopus will eventually be flapping his CGI tentacles.

Advantage: Well, Gyllenhaal's ahead on cred points, but Maguire gets the edge in the Tony Montana trifecta: money, women, power. Gyllenhaal's got the better lashes, though. Strong like spider's silk!