No difference in love, straight or gay, in 'Geography Club'

MANILA, Philippines - Finding one’s true identity and standing up for is something that happens in high school for Russell, a guy with boyish good looks and affable personality in the endearing, funny coming-of-age movie “Geography Club.”

Winner of the Audience Award as Best Feature Film and Best Performance by an Actress (Meaghan Martin), “Geography Club” navigates not just gay relationships becoming the new normal but also takes on the comic everyday mishaps where teens are usually caught: trying to be liked by everyone while being beholden to no-one’s dreams and desires but their own.

Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Brent Hartinger of the same title, meet the members of “Geography Club” whom you can share your deepest secrets with:  Cameron Deane Stewart stars as Russell, a high student with boyish good looks and affable character along with Justin Deeley as Kevin,  Andrew Caldwell as Gunnar, Best Actress Meaghan Martin as Trish, Ally Maki as Min, Alex Newell as Ike and Allie Geronimo as Kimberly.

The likeable hero, Russell Middlebrook, starts out convinced he has got to be the only gay kid in his small-town high school.  He might be a die-hard romantic faced with on-rushing crushes but how on earth will he ever be able to let his real feelings out in this situation?

Russell’s earnest best friend Gunnar is struggling to make a romantic connection with a girl, all while battling the mountainous struggle of accepting his own physical appearance.   Soon, Russell discovers that he isn’t as alone as he thought. There are others like him, and a few dare to band together, forming a hush-hush clan that masquerades under the mind-numbing sounding guise of the school’s Geography Club.

For its members, the club becomes the only place they can go without getting caught between the worry of trying to be cool, and the dread of being totally humiliated.  Russell finds solace in the Geography Club as he navigates a complicated life outside the club.  In one arena he exists as the newly minted football star, and in another he acts as Gunnar’s wingman on several double dates with two very popular and beautiful girls. In the Geography Club Russell can take a breath and relate to his peers as the most authentic version of himself.

No secret is hidden forever and the truth comes out about Russell after a reckless student exposes Russell’s identity to the whole school. Together Russell and the members of the Geography Club must make the toughest decision of their lives . . . help Russell cover up his recent scandal or stand together as one and open up the Geography Club to any student who is proud to be different?

Directed and written by  brothers Edmund and Gary Entin, ”Geography Club” is a movie that will appeal to any kid who has ever felt trapped in the steamy pressure cooker of high school social life, waiting for their situation to explode.
The movie reveals a private realm of things that teens can’t easily talk about to their parents, peers or even their very best friends.  In today’s world, those problems range from sexual identity to body image, all existing on an equal playing field.

“Geography Club” reveals its members’ secrets when it opens February 5 in cinemas from CrystalSky Multimedia.