English teacher Sandra Beecher (Halle Berry) takes over the science class at Kona Pali High School in Hawaii. Nobody expects much from these lower class kids and she takes them to a science fair. Jack Fryman (Kevin Tighe) represents a solar company which entered a private academy into a solar car contest. His son Steve Fryman (Joel Edgerton) is a classist jerk. Daniel Webster (Casey Affleck) is the artistic student who suggests entering the competition. His stepsister Cindy Johnson (Eliza Dushku) joins the team. Sandra recruits disillusioned shop teacher Frank Machi (Jim Belushi). In a surprising turn of event, they win over the expensive academy for a chance to race in Australia where Hans Kooiman (Steve Zahn) is the rich high-powered baddie.
This is a based-on-a-true-story story. The true story is probably interesting enough. There is no need to add so many supervillains. Steve Zahn is unnecessarily ridiculous. Kevin Tighe is perfectly fine as the lone supervillain of the movie. As often is the case, it's always interesting to see these familiar faces when they were younger. Of course, everybody has seen the younger Dushku in True Lies. I was not expecting Edgerton and he's a great jerk. This could have been great, but it insists on doing too much.
This is a based-on-a-true-story story. The true story is probably interesting enough. There is no need to add so many supervillains. Steve Zahn is unnecessarily ridiculous. Kevin Tighe is perfectly fine as the lone supervillain of the movie. As often is the case, it's always interesting to see these familiar faces when they were younger. Of course, everybody has seen the younger Dushku in True Lies. I was not expecting Edgerton and he's a great jerk. This could have been great, but it insists on doing too much.