Sort of a reverse "Cool Runnings," "Race the Sun" is based on a true story involving a group of Hawaiian high school kids who built a solar-powered car and then raced it in competition. Like "Stand and Deliver" and it's numerous imitators, this film also has a group of lackluster students rallying behind a teacher who is willing to seek out their strengths in order to help them achieve great things no one thought possible of them. Unfortunately, at times, the film also seems like an "After School Special." Still, despite these obstacles, the finished product is actually quite likable.

The only really recognizable stars in the film are Halle Berry, who was also in "Executive Decision" which was released on the same day as this film (with much more profitable results), and James Belushi. The rest of the cast is made up of mainly native-looking Hawaiian youths with a surfer dude and his "alternative" looking sister thrown in for texture. The kids are none too great at the thespian game but Casey Affleck, as the surfer dude, manages to hold them together with his amiable demeanor. What the teens lack in acting skill they more than make up for with heart however, with none more evident than in the big native playing Gilbert. Allowed the shining climax to himself, this large youth makes us really root for a happy ending here. These kids, with stilted dialogue and typical plot contrivances, still somehow make us root for them.

Berry and Belushi, meanwhile, aren't quite as fortunate. Berry is buried in script contrivances. She also has no real dialogue to help her out here. Her character becomes little more than a sketched outline by the time the film is over. Berry is quite likable but she does little to further her career. She is given much too little to do, dramatically, romantically or humorously. Belushi, meanwhile, does nothing more than grumble and smoke cigars throughout the film until near the end. He almost makes up for this with an inspired speech around this time. In the long run, however, we expect more from him as well. Still it must be noted that both of these actors don't do any harm here and it seems easy to blame the script for their less than shining performances.

The script, by the way, comes from Barry Morrow - who puts some of his own money into the film as well. Morrow never really finds moments for us to revel in his uniqueness. His script is only helped by the enthusiasm of the youngsters here and the nice direction by Charles T. Kanganis. Morrow fills the plot with too much sub-text. Berry's hackneyed and contrived past is alluded to with little interest from the viewer. We've heard it before. Belushi's reminiscences seem like the stuff of previous Hollywood scripts as well. Worse yet are Morrow's villains, primarily a snotty rich kid and a snooty European who also lurk in the periphery. The German driver in the film's final race is such a stereotype, we almost think he's popped up out of a cartoon. It's a bit sophomoric and silly. Furthermore, in Morrow's script, the tension between the teens is milked for a bit of diversion with uneven effects. On the down side is a sibling rivalry/ relationship that could have been written by a 16 year old. But, on the up side, Morrow deftly inserts a sub-textural element about the nature of leadership that is subtle and profound. It could be the only aspect of the script that doesn't hit us over the head.

Director Kanganis seems to do his best work to date here, though I haven't seen his other films. He previously helmed a couple of theatrical releases starring ex-porn queen Traci Lords. Kanganis actually has some inspired moments here. One of the nicest shots comes when a race of solar- powered cars begins and the director slackens the pace a bit to show a few shots in slow-mo. He follows a shot of the starting flag whipping slowly in the wind with a shot of a flock of birds taking flight in slow-mo as well. It looks really nice.

(Taking place in both Hawaii and Australia, Kanganis and his group get to travel quite a bit of countryside and Director of Photography David Burr shows much of it to us beautifully. The travelogue aspect of the film never seems like simple scenery or stock footage. We enjoy the film as if we were traveling the back-roads of Australia ourselves. Wisely, the powers-that-be also don't treat Hawaii as a beautiful backdrop for the early scenes. This segment of the film could have taken place anywhere. It is important for us to remember that these kids are just like any other, they just happen to live in Hawaii. We see no beautiful scenery, no local customs and no "tourist" aspects of this locale until the film's epilogue.

"Race the Sun" isn't a great film but it's good enough. The story elements are interesting enough to entertain (and maybe even educate) most teenagers. The youthful characters and their comradery, meanwhile, will sustain even the most jaded viewer. You do have to give the film a break now and then but, somehow, the payoff makes it all worthwhile. Even if we know how it's all gonna end by mid-film.

Notes:

The excellent score music is by Graeme Revell. Songs by The Scorpions, Men at Work, Katrina and the Waves and Rusted Root are used almost in their entirety in certain scenes in the film.

Producer Richard Heus also directs the second unit photography.

This film is based on the story of a Hawaiian team of high-schoolers who entered The Solar Car Nationals in 1990.

Review written in 1996

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