According to Paul Attanasio, "richness of "Sherman's March" comes from the way McElwee, in his roundabout way, completes the portrait of Sherman he originally set out to achieve"; but "[the chief problem is that, at 2 hours, it's about an hour too long. It's as if the very weakness, the retiring politeness, that has made McElwee such an interesting comic character has also made him a crummy editor of his own film — like the women who mostly reject him, you don't really want to spend your life with him. United by theme rather than story, "Sherman's March" doesn't progress, it only deepens. And at epic length, the film's poor technical quality wears you out."