Formula 17 (Mandarin)

This movie was so silly yet so enjoyable. I guess it depend son my mood. I was open for some silliness and the Taiwanese queens just did the trick for me tonight. The 3 friends of the main character in this film were just too good and hilarious. A totally adorable wonderful happy movie that will make you giggle and squeal and completely believe in love, even if it's just for the duration of the film, this one is not to be missed.

Tien is a young guy, still a virgin, because he is looking for love and not lust. He moves to Taipei for summer and starts living with is buddy who works in a bar and is in a long distance relationship with an American guy. Tien gets a few propositions but he in search for genuine love. Enter Bai Tieh-nan, the seducer of the area. Bai Tieh-nan has the reputation of being total heartless bitch, sleeping with  anew boy everyday. Tien somehow gets attracted to him. Despite everyone's warnings, Tien can't help get attracted to wards Bai Tieh-nan. On his part, we see Bai Tieh-nan also giving signals to Tien but there is something that is holding him back. They go on a couple of dates and finally they both figure out they are falling in love and end up sleeping. The next morning Bai Tieh-nan disappears and Tien is told by his friend that he cannot be together with Tien. This is when Tien's friends interrupt to find out the truth. It turns out that Bai Tieh-nan has fear of intimacy because of some fortune tellers reading that whatever Bai Tieh-nan loves, will get bad luck. Once all the misunderstandings are clear, the true love wins.

To be honest, there is nothing new in the plot. You know exactly what is going to happen, but its the treatment that makes it different. The characters are not serious, yet they are. In a light hearted breezy tone, the film does tell us a lot about true love. If not for Tien's friends, especially the one who is living with, this film would have fallen flat. They are the real stars of the show. Bai Tieh-nan is pretty good looking but he just one confused expression throughout the film, which gets a little annoying after a while. Tien acts his part very well, as the young kid who first is looking for love and when he finds it, cannot understand what's going on. Not just love, but the film also shows what true friends will do for each other.

This is a gay film with a big heart that manages to deal with some important issues of fidelity and honesty instead of focusing on merely the superficial. (6.5/10)