Our Towns

"Our Towns" (2021 release; 97 min.) is a new documentary about life of ordinary people in ordinary places. As the film opens, we learn that the film makers selected 8 cities that were visited and written up in James and Deborah Fallows' book "Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America", and that filming began in 2018 (meaning: in pre-pandemic times). First up are 3 cities in California's Inland Empire (where James Fallows hails from): San Bernardino, Redlands, and Riverside, as we learn of the ups and downs of that area and what locals have done (and continue to do) to overcome adversity. The remaining 5 cities covered in this documentary are Sioux Falls SD, Columbus MS, Eastport ME, Charleston WV, and Bend OR.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from the Oscar-nominated husband and wife team of Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan. Here they bring the book of the same name to the small screen, looking at mostly smaller cities that have gone through a variety of ups and downs. The stories are remarkably similar: a big crash in economic fortunes at one point or another (many in the 1980s) and the long way back to day, where many of them are seeing a revival, typically with a booming rejuvenated downtown. Comments James Fallows: "The number of breweries is a good indication of how a town is doing." The overall tone of the documentary is civil, and full of empathy and understanding. Or as one TV reporter in Sioux Falls, whose daughter has died from opioid addiction, puts it: "We need to judge less and empathize more, we need to punish less, and help more." The Fallows stress on several occasions how on their town visits they steadily stay away from the (toxic and divisive) national politics. But to me, even though his name isn't mentioned a single time, the shadow of Trump loomed very large over this documentary. Everything that we hear and see in this documentary is 180 degrees averse to everything Trump stands for. "We need more diversity", comments a business person in Sioux Falls. "I offer my shoulders for you to stand on, and I hope you will do the same for the next person," comments someone in Columbus, MS. "Building up, instead of tearing down", offers yet another. Can you imagine these words ever coming out of Trump? Me neither. So in that sense, this documentary offers hope and empathy, yet is also deeply political (even if unintentionally). I thought is was quite moving and very well done.

"Our Towns" premiered on HBO earlier this week, and is now available on HBO On Demand, Amazon Instant Video, and other streaming services. If you have any interest in seeing what ordinary people in ordinary towns are doing to lift and strengthen their own community, and indirectly this country, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Great show to teach and learn about our country and the people in it!

Great idea, less than ideal execution.

Not sure if it's because there were too many cooks in the kitchen (ie 2 directors + the 2 hosts who obviously had a saying) but the whole thing is missing a solid common thread, the starting point of "let's see how resilient local communities are after the 2008 recession"... doesn't really work the way it's been presented here.

I understand that during preproduction is way easier to book someone who is part of an association or the local government, and that during filming these people will be at ease and not make silly mistakes while speaking and that during editing the process will be faster... but: it all seems a glorified scripted commercial. Now, I value the impact these people had in their communities and yes the world is a better place thanks to them. It's that for a documentary... it doesnt work.

Too fragmented, too fast, not enough time to absorb the situation, the challenges and the emotions involved in all these stories.

Having title cards to indicate the different locations would have helped.

Less drone shots (with an oversaturated color palette) would have helped. Again, it gave me the impression to be a commercial. A generic travel commercial put together with a bunch of stock footage.

They could learn a thing or 2 from Peter Santanello on youtube, whose videos are small gems of getting close to the locals and making them comfortable enough to open up ant talk about their problems.

Maybe it's that the 2 hosts are trying too hard to be relatable to the situations and the personal stories they have on screen. Personally, they fail: they should have interacted more with the locals. They should have avoided flying around with their private plane... the vibe it gives me is: here we come from above... we are not like you peasants.... we can fly... Maybe it works on paper (the documentary comes after a book they wrote) but it doesnt on screen. There is just too much talking and not enough emotional showing.

Not recommended.

Well done cinematography and real journalism. America isn't all doom and gloom and big cities and big media.