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Customer Reviews of Sherman's March

Much more hideous than anything Sherman ever did
This ridiculously boring, trite, and ineffectual so-called "comedy" consists of a lowly-acting misanthrope galavanting around the South in the early 80's attempting to carve out a worthwhile romantic companionship with some of the most dead-end, annoyingly derivative women who have ever existed. The premise of the film is somewhat unbelievable, and I imagine the protagonist ("acclaimed" filmmaker Ross McElwee) had a little too much time on his hands to make such a travesty, and several friends in high places to boot, otherwise this waste-of-two-hours wouldn't have produced a ripple anywhere on earth. <
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>Watch Ross pace back and forth for ten minutes, and listen to his morose monologue. Watch him sit in a hotel room and whine about not being able to get a date with any of the women he stumbles across in his pointless attempt to make a film worth watching. Watch him try and meet Burt Reynolds, for no apparent reason in the context of the film, and end up aping Michael Moore in the process, and instead dragging it out into a nearly twenty-minute scene with absolutely not a shred of humor as he attempts to make Burt's fans look idiotic. Watch him exploit woman after woman by tricking them into thinking that his film will have something to do with "women of the South", and then they show up on screen to be laughed at, heckled, and made to appear silly. <
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>This is without question the biggest waste of time I have encountered in years. It took me literally DAYS to get through this DVD, as sad an attempt at humor as it was. It is an embarassment to the genre of underground, independent filmmaking, and a sorry statement about carpetbagging former "Southerners" who, instead of taking pride in the eccentricities of Southern society (or womanhood, as it were), choose to portray it as somehow trashy and "beneath oneself". Ross, here's your one-way ticket back to Boston. Don't let the door hit you.

McElwee's March
"Sherman's March" is an unusual, somewhat loopy documentary. North Carolinian filmmaker Ross McElwee originally set out to do a fairly serious examination of how General Sherman's Civil War campaign has continued to affect life in the South. However, right before shooting started, McElwee's girlfriend broke up with him. This event lead McElwee to completely reconsider the documentary, especially as he started to travel across the South and trace Sherman's march. He soon finds himself being perpetually set-up with women by family and friends. <
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>The film ends up somewhat unexpectedly focusing far more on southern women than it does General Sherman. Don't watch this film hoping to gain more knowledge about Sherman -- you'll be disappointed. However, if you enjoy documentaries about real people and relationships, then you'll probably appreciate "Sherman's March." I had mixed feelings about the film, mostly because I had conflicting feelings about McElwee and the women he wooed. McElwee is a fairly likeable sadsack, but we really don't get to know much about him. In addition, he seems pretty clueless about how to choose a partner for himself. Most of the women highlighted are eccentric or downright unlikeable, such as Pat who is obsessed with meeting Burt Reynolds and becoming a star. However, perhaps the message is that when you're in your 30s and looking for a partner, you might have to kiss a few frogs in the process. <
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>"Sherman's March" is filled with genial humor. However, the film is unfocused, repetitive, and overlong by at least 40 minutes. I also found the subjects annoying after awhile. DVD Extras: Consist mostly of a 6 minute interview with McElwee, which covers "Sherman's March" and his subsequent films.