The Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. of the Aughts

The opening narration of the excellent zom-com Zombieland is delivered in a slightly nasal, high-pitched, nervous, yet appealing voice obviously belonging to someone in his early twenties. I thought it was Michael Cera, despite the fact that I probably knew that it was Jesse Eisenberg. I'm not entirely sure it made a difference to the film. But it made me think: here is a pair that was destined to make buddy comedies together. Need a geeky, nervous, skinny kid? Attention shoppers, we have them in blond or brunette, wavy or curly hair. They come with matched shy-guy slouches and earnest face-forward postures, and both look great in a hoodie. They're both really good at a certain kind of character, and I'm afraid they're both due for approximately a decade of unhappiness as they outgrow that character but have yet to grow into mature, adult parts.