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)

Suradit The cast of characters, who are exceptionally attractive and/or genuinely lovable, would probably make this movie worth watching in any case. Fortunately, in addition to the eye-candy, this movie involves quite decent acting and very well-orchestrated humor. It's based on the usual run of misunderstandings that thwart the quest for true love, but done in a way that pokes fun at the whole overly dramatic, soap-operatic response often used in other movies, especially in terms of peer support and psychoanalytical "therapy." Quite often in Asian language movies the English subtitles can defeat the dialogue but in this case the subtitles were obviously done by someone with an excellent command of English. The only bizarre issue was that every letter J was turned into a K. So the main character is looking for a summer "kob" and denies feeling "kealous." Not something that really matters, but strange nonetheless.I think I missed the "formula 17" meaning,unless it refers to the one boy's age, but there is a trigonometric identity featured for fans of mathematics.If you want a light, feel-good experience, this movie is well worth watching. No ponderous morality or gut-wrenching tragedy, but you do get a lift to your spirits.

ekeby This story about a naive 17-year-old coming to the city looking for love just doesn't ring true. Well, true enough, anyway. In his apartment (or dorm room), at the beginning of the movie, there's a poster on the wall for the film Happy Together. Let me warn you--if you admired the gritty realism, film style, and eyes-wide-open anti-romance of that film, Formula 17 is its polar opposite.And in more ways than one. That the virginal student, Tien, even knows about Happy Together--much less admires it enough to display the poster--is completely incongruous with his character. Tien's best friend, with whom he bunks in the city, is a comic character that probably doesn't translate accurately. I can well imagine Taiwanese audiences finding his high queen low comedy hilarious. But I felt I was not only missing language subtleties, some cultural subtleties must have eluded me too. I found very little of his shtick humorous or entertaining. The same goes for the roommate's two friends, also intended to be comic. Not for me.The actor who plays the anti-hero Bai seems to be acting in another movie altogether--maybe an Ang Lee drama, or maybe even Happy Together. His gravitas is a couple of notches above what is necessary for this bit of fluff.Toward the end of the movie Tien's three pals confront Bai. At one point one of them insists that he speak Mandarin. It was at that moment that I felt I'd been completely missing an entire dimension of the movie, something that had to do with cultural and language differences between the characters. Similarly, there are a number of dialog-free scenes that are underscored with untranslated Chinese pop songs. Again, I felt I was probably missing something.I agree, this film has it's heart in the right place. The production is clearly low-budget, but that isn't detracting. The story-line is not very original, but that's not detracting either, really. What was a major minus for me, though, was the feeling that as a non-Chinese speaker, I was missing more than half of what was going on.There isn't much to this movie. But what little is there almost certainly depends upon a thorough understanding of the language and culture to appreciate fully. Without that understanding you're watching a bit of fluff that will strike you as seriously deficient in content and quality. And that may not be entirely true.

clee7903 One of a few gay Asian movies out there today. It depicted a naive young Taiwanese gay man who ventured out to a very much open Taipei society in search of his true love only to encounter that lust rather than love was on the minds of most. Formula 17 also tried to approach this love story through a comedic style...with characters that were quite dramatic and over-reacting. In retrospect, I appreciate Formula 17 not only because it was a work of art, it was also an expression that many gay people out there could also relate with. Love have been lost and is seldom seen but the main character in this movie tried to bring it back for us to see and taste.I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone...gay or straight.