Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

jaroslaw99 This movie is now 12 years old and I have watched it probably at least once a year since I bought it. (this review contains spoilers) There are a lot of reviews here - so I will be brief on the basic story - country boy moves to the city for a summer job and also searches for his true love. Meets sophisticated playboy, troubles ensue.I don't know where the idea comes from this movie is simple or amateurish. I have watched many films and TV shows that are high brow or pretend to be and it is often a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense parading as complicated "art". This film was made at a time when Gay films without sad endings were rare. The only thing that was kind of silly was the part where two characters were lovesick and they were actually physically sick.This movie has it all - beautiful scenery of the city, the parks, Sha-lung beach. Handsome guys, lots of comedy and romance. I loved all the characters - Yu, CC, Richard, Jay, Ray, Tapei Plumber, Alan. I think as a supporting player, Jason Chang as Richard didn't get enough credit. There were a number of cultural things I didn't understand - Tien's friends spraying (what?) on Bai & Richard when they returned from the business trip. The tongue movement at the store in the ending credits. Fantastic music as well. This is a light hearted happy ending comedy that if you are Gay (or even if not) you will enjoy.

citronellaa This is more like a film equivalent to 'pop' music. Quite happy go lucky, kinda cheesy. This isn't the usual thing I'd go for, but compared to the last two films I stumbled across which were more dark, I quite appreciate itThe main character is pretty cute and innocent, from a quiet part of the island, and he is exposed to some homosexual lifestyles and attitudes of his Taipei friends. The main character's friend is also kinda sweet. The plot is not dazzling/shockingly brilliant - it's quite simple, but it does mirror some challenges you'd find in realityThere is a really good shot when the two characters are on a bridge, with the colourful lights behind in a good geometric position. Other than that we don't see too much of Taipei, which I found a shame. But the film definitely is a good example of the more liberal attitudes and lifestyles of Taiwan - attitudes to homosexuality are not conservative there - which I already knew from photos of the gay pride in Taiwan, and from a Cosmopolitan/Vice article I saw about a Taiwanese charity who want to give handjobs to disabled people (seriously)

gothic_a666 As the title itself states, 'Formula 17' does follow a formula that has been done many a time: wide eyes romantic virgin with fanciful ideas of true love meets jaded playboy. This is the gay version of that older than old staple of romance comedy. But there is enough in this production to keep it fresh and interesting. First of all the awkwardness between the leads is very genuine. The acting is very good all around but secondary characters are of course either zany and over the top or of the straight man kind, a requirement that seems even more present in homosexual themed films. This leaves only the main couple to truly shine in terms of acting. Their awkward interaction gives a hint of realism in a whacky comedy.The parody element is important in that it pokes fun at gay clichés with gusto, with narrated flashbacks staged as theater pieces and light heartedly making fun of being overly emotional. Jokes around lack of communication between Mandarin and Cantonese speakers will probably go over the head of most Western (or even non-Chinese) viewers but they keep the comedy from being too one note. Some nuances are introduced in the general outline of the movie since the jaded man is undergoing therapy to cure himself of his Don Juan ways. Not that this is at all taken seriously. Even when the story plods into its mandatory crisis two thirds into it there is never a feeling that anything is at all in jeopardy.It ends as the viewer expected it too from the every first frame. The conclusion may be a bit too neat and there is something horribly distracting about the soundtrack, especially during intimate scenes. This movie has a certain amateur aura to it but that ends up being its greatest selling points. Shot in a fresh way and with plenty of color across the screen 'Formula 17' cannot help being formulaic but it is a worthy effort for all that.

gradyharp 'Shi qi sui de tian kong' (FORMULA 17) is a very fine first venture into film making by two young Taiwanese women - Yin-jung Chen, director and Rady Fu, screenwriter - who are unafraid to take on a taboo subject in Taiwan and find some excellent talent and ideas that suggest that there will be more films from them in the future. Though the central theme and two characters of the story are excellent, the movie drifts into wide-eyed burlesque with its supporting cast, and thus the six rating instead of eight.Tien (Tony Yang) is a naive seventeen-year-old from the provinces who comes to Taipei to live with his old friend Yu (Chin King), a bartender in a gay bar, for a summer. Tien is gay, a virgin, and intends to stay a virgin until he is in a meaningful love relationship. Yu is suffering from a relationship that is tainted by distance, but he sees the need to introduce Tien into the active gay life in Taipei - and to put an end to Tien's virginity. Together with Yu's friends (way over the top flamboyant kids) Tien is introduced to gay bars, is set up with hunks, but he holds to his values - until he eyes 30-year-old playboy Bai Tieh-nan (Duncan Lai), a lothario famous for his one night stands. We gradually learn that Bai is a sensitive hunk with issues who is afraid to fall in love, hence his one night stand rule. The story at the core of this film is how the two ultimately fulfill each others' ideals and needs.Much of the film dawdles in stereotypical situations and poorly acted and directed excursions into the bar scenes, but the work of Duncan Lai and Tony Yang makes the film credible and well worth watching: both men are handsome, talented actors who develop a fine screen chemistry. For all its weak points, FORMULA 17 is a film with a big heart and a gay film that manages to deal with some important issues of fidelity and honesty instead of focusing on merely the superficial. In Mandarin, Cantonese, English with subtitles. Grady Harp