Eddie Izzard vs. Ricky Gervais
Battle of the Witty Brit Cameos

Every few years, the media covering the entertainment industry inform us that we're in the midst of an "indie revolution." It used to be that we could only expect this story when three or more non-studio movies get Best Picture Oscar nominations, but now it might just as easily be sold as a trend when Carson Daly hires someone based on her YouTube videos, or when a touring band gets a record deal based on its MySpace page. And of course, the major media conglomerates are interested in product from artists working on a shoestring outside the system: it means there's talent to be tapped -- probably quite cheaply -- and co-opted to add a little indie glamour to whatever crap movies they were already going to make anyway. It's like when Quentin Tarantino directed that episode of ER, or when Parker Posey guest-starred on Will & Grace, or when Mary Lynn Rajskub was in that Sheryl Crow video, or any of the things Eddie Izzard and Ricky Gervais have done lately.

Some will quibble that, before the current phase of their careers, Gervais and Izzard weren't exactly toiling in obscurity. Gervais created and starred in The Office, which was bankrolled and aired on the BBC, a sizeable company serving millions of viewers -- plus it's one of only like four channels you can even get over there without paying a bomb for it, so that's a huge audience. And Izzard rose to prominence largely on the strength of a standup special which, after performing it live around the world (even in France -- in FRENCH!), he recorded for HBO, and for which he eventually won two Emmy awards. So, fine, they're only really as indie as Jerry Seinfeld and Dane Cook, respectively, except for the fact that they're British. The accents make them exotic; everything they say sounds super-smart -- which, when you're talking about an audience of American filmgoers that made RV #1 at the box office in its opening weekend, is as big a deficit to overcome as black-and-white film stock or gay subtext.

And, look, we're not going to front: we treasure our DVDs of The Office, and Dress To Kill was the work of a crazy genius. And we credit Izzard for his apparently well-received work on Broadway in that Joe Egg thing a few years ago, and though Gervais's Extras could never live up to The Office, it has its moments. But we noticed a little while back that Izzard seemed to be doing a lot of work in American movies where what the audience knew of his professional persona was the point -- cameos, practically -- where the cred he could lend to the film just by showing up in it was meant to gloss over the gaps and failures in the script. Shadow Of The Vampire, All The Queen's Men, Ocean's Twelve -- all got an Izzard boost; the cred he provided to Mystery Men was apparently so effective that Ivan Reitman had him repeat the role almost exactly this year in My Super Ex-Girlfriend. In terms of saving the movie, though...well, he's good, but no one's that good.

Anyway, Izzard may have to step up his game to stay competitive: Ricky Gervais is fully biting his action. This winter alone, he's appeared in both For Your Consideration and this week's Night At The Museum. Sure, both those roles find him playing officious fussbudgets, as opposed to the mellow loafer Gervais projects in interviews, but they're about as big a stretch as Paul Lynde playing a warlock on Bewitched when in fact he didn't actually know any spells. At least Izzard tries out an American accent now and then. And though Izzard has the advantage both of acting range (from what we've seen so far) and priority in the marketplace, Gervais is far more famous. So until that dude from Shaun Of The Dead makes another movie, this is Gervais's race to lose.

Advantage: Gervais