Maurice

To director James Ivory's credit, however, he has recreated that period in pre-World War I England and endowed the platonic passion between two upper-class Englishmen with singular grace in Maurice. [25 Sep 1987]

Mr. Ivory and Ismail Merchant have long since learned to breathe life into their material without excessive reverence, in a manner that is as decorous as it is dramatic. As might be expected, the costumes, settings and cinematography are once again ravishing. Read full review

The team of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory has created another classy film of a classic novel with their stunning adaptation of E.M. Forster's Maurice. [24 Sep 1987]

Behind the visuals rests an absorbing performance from James Wilby as the titular character. Read full review

Subtle, sensitive and every bit as swoony as a Barbara Cartland bodice-ripper, James Ivory's superb screen translation of E.M. Forster's Maurice. Read full review

Rich in atmosphere, its leisurely pace dwells on repressed passions in Edwardian society. Read full review

Maurice, based on a posthumously published novel by E.M. Forster, is a well-crafted pic on the theme of homosexuality. Read full review

Maurice's slow, agonized dawning of his true nature and its consequences are as beautifully evoked on the screen as it is on the printed page, thanks to James Wilby's wonderfully unaffected portrayal of Maurice and to Ivory and his co-adapter Kit Hesketh-Harvey's graceful yet succinct script, a miracle of both apt selectivity and development that does full honor to its distinguished source. [01 Oct 1987]

The film is so well made and acted, because it captures its period so meticulously. Read full review

In this forthright screen version of E.M. Forster's posthumously published novel. Directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, who show the same literate skill and the same fidelity to their source that marked "A Room With a View." Read full review

Maurice succeeds because [Merchant/Ivory's] trademark flatness is appropriate for the subject. Read full review

At its best, the film is moving and thought-provoking, but at other moments it is unintentionally silly. It is not the story but the telling of it that is the problem; at 140 minutes, Maurice simply goes on too long. Read full review

The dissection of Edwardian repression never gets beyond the dutiful, tasteful obviousness of a BBC miniseries. Read full review

Maurice (pronounced Morris) is all high-mindedness and good taste. It has no emotional tension or - heaven forfend - strong expression of frustration or need. Read full review