For curious movie buffs, "Race the Sun" is a blend of "Breaking Away", "Walkabout", and "Summer School"; making it quite unique and considerably better than its rating. It's neither ambitious nor technically brilliant; in fact the cinematography somehow manages to NOT capture the inherent scenic beauty of a series of Hawaiian and Australian locations. But the casting and directing are solid and the story has so much charm that you don't mind it being corny and predictable. Halle Berry and James Belushi play teachers at a Hawaiian technical high school who reluctantly sponsor a team of students building a solar-powered car. "Race the Sun" was inspired by a group of Hawaiian students who actually entered the World Solar Challenge in 1980. The film would have been better if the cartoonish corporate villain had been replaced by some actual scientific explanations and a bit of background on the race itself. Speaking of cartoons, the solar cars look like something out of "Wacky Races" but there is no sign of Penelope Pitstop in this entertaining race.The school is in Hawaii, which makes for some interesting cultural details (as does the race's Austrialian setting), but for viewer identification purposes the settings could be anywhere.Thankfully the film avoids a couple of obvious traps. Berry and Belushi end up liking and respecting each other but there are no obligatory romantic sparks between them. Likewise for Casey Affleck and Elisha Dushku-who plays his step-sister.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I thought that Race the Sun was a cute little movie; ironically I've read on-line that it's how poor Eliza Dushku became addicted to cigarettes at age 15! Anyways, the Australian outback is portrayed well (duh,' twas filmed in Sydney I also heard!) Race the Sun is a timeless family movie; based loosley around the true story of a group of under-achieving haawian school-kids who set out to win a solar car race in Australia

I give this movie a C+. It is a cute after-school special type of movie. The most amusing part is the terrible German accent Steve Zahn affects. Other than that, I'd say it's good for your 10 year old audience.

A feel good family movie, this story shows the young that no matter how much people tell you "you can't" you never know unless you try. Halle's character is a positive role model and she does give the movie life, with even a simple script. If you look close enough, you can see in the beginning and the end, the crowd scenes were both shot in Sydney! Its funny how Adelaide suddenly looks like The Rocks in Sydney! 5 out of 10