The Washington Post’s David Ignatius referenced Our Towns highlight of the value of community colleges in his April 29, 2021 column reviewing President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan. “The value of community colleges in giving students technical skills for the jobs of the future was explained powerfully in “Our Towns”, the superb HBO documentary based on a book by journalists James and Deborah Fallows,” said Ignatius.

Nicholas D. Sawicki reviewed the HBO documentary for America The Jesuit Review. “Our Towns,” he says, “recalls the America that was, captures an America that is and foretells an America that is to come—a past, present and future constantly in tension and in conversation with one another in the daily lives of Americans throughout this land.”

C-SPAN Washington Journal’s Steve Scully interviewed James and Deborah Fallows on their HBO Documentary Our Towns on his Monday, April 26, 2021 program.

See the broadcast here.

Boston Globe correspondent Peter Keough reviewed ‘Our Towns’ the HBO documentary in his April 21, 2021 column. He writes, “… the stories they tell are inspiring, hopeful, and appeal to the values and experiences of all Americans.”

Washington Post movie critic Ann Hornaday writes, ‘In “Our Towns,” … hot-button conflict and internecine arguments are left behind in favor of an examination of how communities are actually functioning throughout the United States…”

She concludes, “As an exercise in sincerity, fellowship and earnest inquiry, it might be the most subversive movie in circulation right now.”

The Daily Yonder’s Adam B. Giorgi reviewed ‘Our Towns,’ the HBO documentary on April 16, 2021. His recommendation concludes, “it might help you feel a new sense of curiosity or connection regarding distant places on the map, to see the folks who live there not as part of the problem, but as fellow members of a nationwide community, proud of where they come from and ever in pursuit of solutions.”

Albert Hunt’s April 14, 2021 review in The Hill begins, “America, viewed through the prism of Washington and national politics, is a bitterly polarized country.” But, he goes on, “There is a different America, one that Deb and Jim Fallows discovered in four years flying, in their small plane, around the country. It’s one imbued with a sense of community, an appreciation for the quality of life, a willingness to change and innovate, and to directly confront real problems.”

Describing the Fallowses as “national journalistic treasures,” the documentary, he concludes “makes you feel good about America.”

Moundsville Blog’s John W. Miller says quotes James Fallows in the ‘Our Towns’ documentary, “My view of American history is that the country’s always been in trouble. “Wherever we go, people have a certain kind of stubbornness. Even when things are dark, they’re imaging a better future.”

That’s not always true, of course — reality is complicated, some of our towns will die out — but it often is, and those bright lights, all those people working, deserve a big screen.

Decider’s John Serba reviewed ‘Our Towns,’ the HBO documentary and recommends readers “stream it.” Describing the film as, “the a/v version of spousal journalism duo Deborah and James Fallows’ bestseller, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America,” the ‘Our Take’ section reads, “THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY. I emphasize this statement because you may be relieved to hear it.”  

MSNBC Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough interviewed James and Deborah Fallows about the release of their new HBO documentary ‘Our Towns’ live on his Monday, April 12, 2021 show. James spoke about the country as a vast source of tried and tested ideas and willing participants that can be shared. Said Scarborough, the Fallows are “my nominees for lives lived well.”

The Erie Reader’s contributing editor, Ben Speggen, reviewed ‘Our Towns,’ writing, “the documentary, filmed before the pandemic, acknowledges the looming, global crisis of the day without letting it strangle the stories.”

He concludes, “the ‘hey, we should try that in our town!’ is the story that America remains in the hands of Americans, an ever-evolving, ever-growing group of people with many, like those showcased here, working on its faults and celebrating its splendor.”

The Wall Street Journal’s John Anderson writes in his review of ‘Our Towns’ the HBO documentary, “The viewpoint is clear: What’s happening everywhere is, in fact, happening everywhere. Drug problems, space problems, housing problems, race problems. No one escapes these. But in smaller towns, things may be more manageable. And making life tangibly better seems more achievable, with a combination of resilience and community.”

Anderson concludes that although the presumption that the “real” America exists in the so-called heartland is not a new, the idea that the differences between the problems of major cities and smaller towns is really a question of scale, is.