Matt Damon and Brad Pitt cameos turned the 2002 film into an oceanic reunion

Filmmaking can be a difficult, unpredictable endeavor, so it makes sense that many directors try to build a team of familiar faces and proven talent before beginning principal photography. John Ford often collaborated with producer Marian K. Cooper; screenwriters such as Nunnally Johnson, Dudley Nichols, and Frank S. Nugent; and an entire stock company of actors that included Victor McLaglen, Jack Pennick, Harry Carrey Jr. and, of course, John Wayne. On a smaller scale you have Joe Dante, who portrayed character actor Dick Miller in almost all his films and Ron Howard, who has found small details for his brother Clint Howard since his feature directorial debut in 1977's Grand Theft Auto.

This cohesion gives film productions a sense of built-in camaraderie and sense of purpose; it also gives confidence because everyone working on the film trusts this group of craftsmen who know how to deliver a high quality image.

Obviously, a first-time director usually has to start from scratch when making these associations, but if the first-time director is a Hollywood veteran with movie star friends, he can send a clear signal to his cast and crew that. this debut film is not the work of true amateurs, casting some pretty big names. And if their co-star friends don't have a cheesy role, there's always the chance to make a cameo. And that's exactly how Brad Pitt and Matt Damon helped spice up the first movie from one of their showbiz bands.

George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was a bold choice for a directorial debut. The Charlie Kaufman script is an adaptation of Chuck Barris' gonzo “unauthorized autobiography,” in which “The Dating Game” creator and “The Gong Show” host claimed to have been a CIA assassin. Clooney cast Sam Rockwell as Barris and Drew Barrymore as his girlfriend, but found a way to involve his “Ocean's Eleven” co-conspirators in big and amusingly small ways.

Pete and Damon appear ever so briefly as contestants on The Dating Game. Boys don't get any lines; they just sit and listen to their competitor give a ridiculous answer to a ridiculous question from the lone woman on the other side of the wall. The joke is that Clooney made Pitt and Damon wear weird hairdos and loud 60's/70's. years of blink-and-you-miss-it outfits (which they did as good to the director). Unsurprisingly, this moment elicited huge laughs when I saw it theatrically. Clooney expanded the “Ocean's Eleven” reunion by casting Julia Roberts in the lead role as the untrustworthy CIA agent Patricia Watson. She gets actual lines and much more glamorous clothing.

Clooney has since directed eight films and starred Damon twice (“The Monuments Men” and “Suburbicon”). As for Roberts and Pitt, he has continued to work with them as an actor, but has yet to direct them again. It's probably just a matter of planning and a lack of suitable material for them. Or maybe they're just divas.