Also featuring Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Hayes John Legend, Sharon Leal, Jackie Long, and somebody else named "Hayes": Black Moses himself.

I just wanna know who's producing (producED at this point) the music.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/LIVING08/803180308/1005/ENT

Producers approve of 'Soul Men' stars
March 18, 2008

"Soul Men" producers David T. Friendly (left) and Charles Castaldi discuss a scene while on location in Shreveport. ((Doug Hyun/Dimension Films/Special to The Times))
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By Alexandyr Kent
akent@gannett.com

Two Hollywood stars spent time in Shreveport becoming grumpy old backup singers for "Soul Men." The road comedy pairs Samuel L. Jackson with Bernie Mac.

"It has a lot of innate comedy, because these two guys are at each others' throats," said producer David T. Friendly. The movie wrapped seven weeks of shooting in Shreveport on Monday.

Jackson and Mac play Louis and Floyd, performers who rode in the backseat of a mega-successful Southern soul group some 25 years ago.

Louis and Floyd reluctantly reunite for a tribute concert after the group's frontman (John Legend) — who long ago left for a solo career — dies. To get ready for the gig at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater, Louis and Floyd drive across the country from Los Angeles and stop for tune-up shows.

The comeback "starts out dreadfully in a little bar in Flagstaff, Ariz.," Friendly said, and then moves through Tusla, Okla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and ultimately to New York.

Audiences will witness feisty verbal sparring when the movie opens Oct. 10 in theaters nationwide.

"We designed this from the get-go as an R-rated comedy," Friendly said, "so we were never going to compromise on what they said or how they behaved. And that's fun, not to have to pull punches."

Jackson and Mac also do their own singing and dancing for "Soul Men" to honor the traditions of Memphis-based Stax Records. A nexus for Southern soul, Stax was Motown's main commercial rival.

"We've had to have them take singing lessons, choreography, lots of rehearsals, and they were intent," Friendly said.

Stax is partly famous for transforming then-producer Isaac Hayes into a music and pop culture icon. (He has a cameo in "Soul Men.")

The screenplay by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone was custom-made for Jackson and Mac.

"When I read the script, I absolutely saw them in it," said producer Charles Castaldi.

Castaldi said he and "Soul Men" director Malcolm D. Lee were offered the movie by the Weinstein Co. while they were in Shreveport in early 2007 shooting "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" (Universal Pictures).

On the "Soul Men" set, Jackson and Mac apparently lived up to their billing.

"The chemistry between the two of them is unbelievable," Castaldi said. "Really, the heart of the movie is the relationship between these two guys who both have seen better days."

He added that Shreveport — including the sheriff's sffice, the police department and mayor's office — has been easy to work with. Castaldi credited citizens and businesses for extending the tradition of Southern hospitality to Hollywooders.

"It's very easy to go to places and get people to cooperate, cut traffic and do all that," Castaldi said. "That makes a big difference."

The bulk of "Soul Men" has been shot in Shreveport at dozens of existing locations, such as bars like Kokopelis and office buildings on Texas Street.

The movie will also spend four shooting days in Memphis and three in Los Angeles before wrapping production. It's being made by Dimension Films, a production unit of the Weinstein Co.

(slightly OT: annoying banners notwithstanding, how WAS "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins"? It got pretty messy reviews.)