Vince Vaughn vs. Vincent D'Onofrio
Battle of the Towering Talents

Hollywood is not made for tall men. For reasons as yet unexplained, male movie stars tend to be short. Don't ask why. We don't know. But if you have ever seen Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, or Dylan McDermott up close and personal, you know that they, like a disproportionate number of male movie stars, are like bonsai men -­ tiny, fully proportional, perfect replicas of full-size human beings.

To accommodate these mini-men, Hollywood has assembled an intricate system of platform lifts, camera angles, and creative blocking, in order to make them appear of normal height. It works quite well...for them. But it has certain repercussions for actually normal-sized actors, and even more so for, God forbid, taller-than-average actors -- actors like Vincent D'Onofrio and Vincent Vaughn, both of whom clock in at a healthy 6-foot-5 or so.

If you are this tall, it means that you tend to be cast in roles where you're doing a lot of intimidating. This has been especially true of D'Onofrio, who when he isn't playing Abbie Hoffman or doing a spot-on Orson Welles, often turns up playing serial killers or scary towering aliens. He can currently be seen on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a scary towering cop. Vince Vaughn ­- who was, in his Swingers days, as lean and sharp as a stiletto blade ­- started out playing lithe ladykillers. Now, since he's bulked up a bit ­- eaten his way into D'Onofrio country, as it happens ­- he's playing mostly killers, period.

Vaughn, surprisingly, hasn't yet played a lot of cops, though he did play a cop in The Cell, a film in which he helped track a serial killer played by none other than Vincent D'Onofrio. This was the first instance of the two towering Vinces converging, like Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon teaming up on the late '80s-era Houston Rockets. Prior to this, not too many people confused the Vinces, despite their superficial similarities. In the last few weeks, however ­- as Criminal Intent promos and Domestic Disturbance trailers have simultaneously clogged the airwaves -­ the potential redundancy between them has become unavoidable.

Admit it: you can easily picture Vince Vaughn as the cop in Criminal Intent, necktie swinging and spittle-flecks flying as he jabs his fingers and crinkles his brow, cowing another interrogatee into a sobbing confession. Similarly, you can effortlessly sub Vince D'Onofrio into Domestic Disturbance, looming over the scared little kid and whispering menacingly into his ear. Sure, Vaughn is more debonair, whereas D'Onofrio is more intense ­ Vaughn makes a more believable cop, D'Onofrio a more chilling killer. But they're strikingly similar ­- and getting more so ­- though their brand of redundancy is easily excused. There may be one too many talented, intense, towering Vinces, but there's certainly a shortage of talented, intense actors in general, towering or otherwise.

Advantage: Even.