maverick and goose. while watching chubby versions of vince vaughn and jon favreau verbally cavort about on-screen during "the break-up," it dawned on me that vaughn-favreau had surpassed damon-affleck as the preeminent hollywood rat pack of two. of course, damon-affleck are the undisputed winners if you take into account career earnings, good looks, physical fitness, number of quality movies, famous girlfriends, and gossip fodder, they are not as beloved as the vaughn-favreau pairing.

while some critics may (accurately) rip vaughn-favreau for always re-creating the swingers dynamic, who really cares? that's how america likes them. after a short period experimenting with serious movies, vaughn blessedly decided to screw it and just play the stylized version of himself every time. favreau decided to cater to that and now they pretty much show up next to each other in every movie. they are the john cusack - jeremy piven for my generation.

while matt and ben struck gold with good will hunting and were billed as "best friends make good," they've really only moved away from each other since then. aside from project greenlight and dogma, they've really decided to strike out on their own (lucrative) paths. ben became daredevil, matt became mr ripley. the only times they really see each other on-screen is when kevin smith calls them up and says "hey guys, i need you. we're making clerks 2 and then jersey girl 2. saddle up."

while looking over the movies that damon-affleck have done, it's pretty shocking how many major league hits both of them have accrued over the years. while matt is certainly more respected as a thespian, ben has had some nice showings too. vaughn-favreau? not so much. favreau has mostly taken his talents behind the camera; to write/direct/produce. vaughn has only found success as a fast talking lothario or overgrown frat boy. but here's the thing: people will go watch vince vaughn just because he's vince vaughn. and a vote for vaughn is a vote for favreau. nobody ever says "oh man, matt(or)ben are in that movie? i gotta go watch him."

it must be infuriating to damon-affleck to realize this fact. they must be asking themselves, "wait, how are vaughn-favreau beating us out in the world of public opinion? we make better movies, we date hotter chicks, we're better looking, what have they got that we don't?" meanwhile, vince and jon sit around eating costco sized packages of ho-hos and laughing about how many sit-ups they can't do.