Steven Soderbergh & George Clooney

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WHY THEM Their appetite for risk is paying ''Ocean's Eleven''-style dividends. The duo's production company boasts a sort of anti-Bruckheimer credo: Roll the dice on quirky auteurist bets (Christopher Nolan's ''Insomnia'') but keep a few chips in popcorn territory (fall's space drama ''Solaris,'' with Soderbergh directing Clooney). They are talent magnets, yet Soderbergh's ''Full Frontal'' (see Julia Roberts) barely made back its $2 million; Clooney's directorial debut, ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,'' looms as a box office gamble. As any casino will tell you, risk is risk.

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