With 1987's Maurice, we get a milestone movie. While not Hugh Grant's first cinematic appearance, it did mark his initial work as a lead.

Set in 1909, Maurice Hall (James Wilby) starts school at Cambridge. There he becomes pals with high-society Viscount Risley (Mark Tandy) and wealthy Clive Durham (Grant).

Before long, Clive professes his love for Maurice. This sets them on a complicated relationship given the attitudes and expectations of the time.

Though the filmmaking duo of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory started way back in the 1960s, they didn’t really come into their own until the 1980s. In particular, 1985’s A Room With a View marked their arrival as a team who made period pieces related to British society.

Maurice became their first team-up after View and it boasts all the trademarks of what we’d see as standard Merchant Ivory fare – for better or for worse. I admit I never cottoned to their form of character dramas, especially back in this era.

Face it: not many 20-year-olds in 1987 found themselves interested in a story about the secret love of two men in the 1910s. Nearly 40 years later, I find myself more open to tales like this, though I can’t claim Maurice brings a narrative that really entices me.

Still, I try to go into flicks like this with an open mind. If I liked Maurice, it wouldn’t exist as the first time I enjoyed a project I figured would leave me cold.

Unfortunately, no such revelations came with Maurice. More a series of social comments than a real character journey, the film largely bores.

Though a period piece, Maurice feels like a 1980s movie in the superficial way it looks at gay relationships. The film accentuates the steep penalties homosexuals suffered in the 1910s – and for many decades to come – but it lacks complexity when it comes to the characters themselves.

Maurice comes with an odd sense that women basically seem superfluous. It leaves the impression those involved think all men would really prefer to stick romantically with other males but society forces them to suffer the presence of women.

Admittedly, this perspective exaggerates the film’s take but I do find it hard to escape it as a general thesis. The gay relationships all seem beautiful and pure, with the only complications related to social conventions.

The female characters never come across as interesting or more than one-dimensional. They exist as nags or impediments with few – if any – positives on display.

After decades of media that treated homosexuality as a horrific psychological affliction, I get that the pendulum swung hard in the opposite direction. This seemed even more important in the climate of the late 1980s, as the AIDS epidemic threatened to damage all the progress gays had made.

The problem stems from the manner in which Maurice loses all nuance via its attempts to depict gay relationships. Again, the film doesn’t literally say that men only deal with women thanks to cultural pressures, but that vibe dominates.

Even without these impressions, Maurice simply lacks compelling characters or situations. We watch Maurice suffer at the hands of an antagonistic society but he never comes across as a real human being.

Instead, Maurice exists as a symbol of the struggles gay men endured. He fails to turn into anything more than a token, and the supporting roles fare no better.

The actors largely do fine, though Wilby seems overmatched by the lead role’s demands. Granted, since the film treats elements in a superficial manner, he doesn't fall too short of the mark, but he nonetheless feels like a weak link.

At its heart, Maurice comes with a tale that could become impactful and meaningful. As executed, though, it seems trite, heavy-handed and superficial.

Maurice appears in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an appealing presentation.

Overall delineation looked good. Some wider shots came with a little softness, but the majority of the flick boasted solid accuracy.

Neither jagged edges nor shimmering popped up, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed appropriate and print flaws remained absent.

As expected for a period piece, Maurice came with a palette that leaned toward a nostalgic amber in the early scenes and more of a chilly blue as the tale progressed. The hues seemed well-developed.

Blacks came across as dark and tight, while low-light shots brought positive clarity. The movie held up well.

Should one expect sonic fireworks from a character drama shot in 1987? Nope, and the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack came with the limitations I anticipated.

The soundfield remained restrained, with music as the most prominent element. The score spread across the front speakers well and used the surrounds in a modest manner.

Effects lacked a lot to do and became gentle environmental support for the most part, with only a few scenes that broadened modest horizons. Nothing about the soundscape stood out as memorable.

Audio quality worked fine for its era, with speech that seemed fairly natural. Some lines leaned a little metallic but the material was still fine.

Music seemed lush and full, while effects became accurate, albeit without much real punch. The mix felt satisfactory for a nearly 40-year-old drama and that was about it.

All the set’s extras show up on a second Blu-ray. James Ivory and Pierre Llhome on the Making of Maurice runs 15 minutes, 44 seconds and involves director Ivory and cinematographer Llhome.

They tall about why Ivory recruited Llhome and the DP's challenges with the English crew, photography and lighting, cast and performers, and controversies about the subject matter. They offer a fairly good view of these domains.

Ivory and Llhome appear again for a live Q&A that goes for 22 minutes, 59 seconds and brings their thoughts about cinematography, aspects of their careers, influences, casting, and general thoughts. This acts as a positive complement to the prior show.

The Story of Maurice spans 30 minutes, 29 seconds. This one features screenwriter Kit Hesketh Harvey, and actors Hugh Grant, James Wilby, and Rupert Graves.

The reel examines the source and its adaptation, casting, characters and performances, working with Ivory and the film's reception. Finally we get participants other than Ivory and Llhome and their perspectives make this a valuable piece.

Next comes a Conversation with the Filmmakers. It goes for 12 minutes, 51 seconds and includes notes from Ivory, composer Richard Robbins, and producer Ismail Merchant.

Here we cover the novel and its path to the screen, story/character elements, music, locations, various complications and the movie's release. We locate another useful program here.

A Director’s Perspective (40:08) brings a two-person conversation. We find a chat between Ivory and Tom McCarthy, director of 2015’s Oscar-winning Spotlight.

They look at story/characters and changes from the novel, cast and performances, what attracted him to Maurice, achieving a period feel, costumes, editing, McCarthy helps move along the discussion well and we find some worthwhile info from Ivory.

28 Deleted/Alternate Scenes occupy a total of 39 minutes, three seconds. We can watch these with or without commentary from Ivory.

While we get a lot of extra footage, I can’t claim this compilation brings anything especially memorable. The cut clips tend to reinforce themes and domains already apparent in the final film so don’t expect snippets that feel significant.

One segment presents a young character Maurice hopes to woo, though, and that becomes the most meaningful addition, even if it feels like it echoes beats in the final film. We also get an extended look at naked men who frolic in the shower, if that floats your boat.

Ivory’s commentary discusses some basics about the scenes. However, he barely talks so don’t expect substance.

Disc One opens with ads for Churchill, The Official Story and Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait. Disc Two includes trailers for the 1987 release of Maurice as well as its 2017 reissue.

A period look at gay relationships in the early 20th century, Maurice seems well-meaning. However, it offers a clumsy narrative without full-blooded characters and feels more like awkward social commentary than a compelling narrative. The Blu-ray comes with appealing picture and audio as well as a pretty useful set of supplements. I wanted to like Maurice but thought it lacked real substance.