Race the Sun

Race the Sun is a 1996 comedy-drama movie starring Halle Berry and James Belushi. The plot is loosely based on the true story of the Konawaena High School Solar Car Team, which finished 18th in the 1990 World Solar Challenge and first place among high school entries. A new science teacher (Halle Berry) at Kona Pali High School in Hawaii pushes a group of students to come up with a science project. With a combination of design vision, mechanical skills, knowledge of batteries, and lightweight drivers, the students design and build a solar-powered car they name "Cockroach." Their team manages to outperform a corporate-sponsored car and win the local Big Island competition by correctly predicting cloudy weather based on the surfing experience of the student captain, Daniel (Casey Affleck). Cloudy weather would make their vehicle's battery capacity a more important factor than its weight. With the shop teacher as chaperone (James Belushi), the students travel to Australia to compete in...