Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres’ on Netflix, a Fascinating Doc About One of Rock Journalism’s True Greats

Now on Netflix, Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres finds the profiler in the rare instance of being profiled. Fong-Torres is a former writer and editor at Rolling Stone who stood out for his exemplary cover stories in the 1970s: Ray Charles. Marving Gaye. Elton John. Bob Dylan. Steve Martin. Carlos Santana. The Grateful Dead. Jim Morrison. The list goes on – and he went on to be one of the core trendsetters and tastemakers that established the magazine as the bible for Boomer-era rock. But his thoughtful interviews with superstars-to-be are only a piece of his life, hence, this inspiring documentary.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN FONG-TORRES: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The Ben Fong-Torres in Almost Famous is not much like the real Ben Fong-Torres, the real Ben Fong-Torres insists. Rock journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe immortalized his former editor in celluloid by having him say “Crazy” in a far-out-man tone whenever he was given a progress report from a naive writer on the road with a wild rock band. Watching this documentary, you don’t get the sense this even-keeled fellow is at all the type to define himself with a one-word catchphrase. What’s truly crazy? Almost Famous isn’t the real-life Fong-Torres’ biggest claim to fame. His efforts during Rolling Stone’s formative years were a key component in making the magazine a cultural institution for decades.

We see shots of Fong-Torres in the Rolling Stone offices with shoulder-length black hair, Lennon glasses and a shirt one might describe as, yes, crazy. Now in his 70s, he looks a couple decades younger than he is. He walks into a storage room and starts pulling drawers and thumbing through dozens of old cassettes labeled with names ranging from Ray Charles to George Harrision and Tina Turner. We hear the voices on those tapes to get a better sense of how Fong-Torres went about the business of interviewing celebrities. We hear Jim Morrison order a bottle of Beefeater and some potato chips in between questions; we hear Ray Charles speak about his painful experiences touring the segregated South; we hear Stevie Wonder discuss how people consider being Black a greater disability than being blind. Fascinating stuff.

Fong-Torres says he was drawn to the stories of marginalized people because of his own upbringing. His father adopted the name Torres upon immigrating to America, passing himself off as Filipino due to U.S. laws that prohibited Chinese immigration at the time. Fong-Torres grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where his father was a chef and restaurateur; they relocated briefly to Texas, where Fong-Torres was the only Asian-American person in a school of 450. In the 1960s, Fong-Torres worked at the newspaper at San Francisco State University, covering the heavy-duty stuff of California counterculture, including war protests and free speech movements.

But his true passion was, and always has been, rock ‘n’ roll; it’s an equalizer, he says. And that passion made him a great rock critic: Great enough for The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir to say if Fong-Torres criticized him, he had it coming. Great enough for Elton John to hug him after not seeing him in 45 years. Great enough for Steve Martin to not only remember the Rolling Stone profile about him Fong-Torres wrote, but thank the writer for playing a key part in establishing his career. Sounds like Fong-Torres is the type of guy who deserves a documentary about him.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Critics never get movies about them, so it’s rewarding to see Like a Rolling Stone and Roger Ebert profile Life Itself are thoughtful, well-made documentaries.

Performance Worth Watching: Ray Manzarek (who died in 2013; this doc’s been brewing since 2010) going on about how Fong-Torres really gets Jim Morrison’s “Jungian” lyrics is one of the movie’s most entertaining soundbites.

Memorable Dialogue: Cynthia Bowman, Fong-Torres’ former assistant, speaks on his status: “Musicians saw him as a celebrity, whether he know sthat or not.”

Sex and Skin: Brief glimpses of 1960s rock-concert nudeness.

Our Take: Fong-Torres surely knows that opening up to an interviewer makes the story better, so he likely wouldn’t agree to be the subject of a documentary without understanding that necessity. (That’s journalism about journalists for you, I guess.) Director Suzanne Joe Kai cobbles together talking heads and candid archival footage to excellent effect, maintaining focus on her subject. Fong-Torres talks openly about growing up with traditionalist parents, the wrenching murder of his brother in 1972 and how and why rock music resonates with him so intensely. He pinpoints a specific moment during a Bob Dylan concert when he felt the song spoke to the loss of his brother, and anyone who’s ever had that nebulous, magical feeling of the combination of music and lyric hitting you right there will understand this guy that much better. Like he said, it’s an equalizer.

So Fong-Torres is no phony. Speaking of his many accomplishments, he comes off reserved and humble, measured in tone but never, ever dispassionate. His former co-workers testify to his credibility: Some people get into rock journalism to do drugs and hang out with celebs and participate in the wild-party culture, but not Fong-Torres. He worked hard and remained an active participant in the Chinese-American community, reporting on cultural issues in the Asian-American paper East West at the same time he was going on tour with Dylan, photographer pal Annie Leibovitz in tow, for Rolling Stone. Quite the remarkable life here, from the frontlines of the immigrant experience to the frontlines of rock’s explosive heyday. Deserving of a documentary? Damn straight.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Music fans, especially those of a certain vintage, will find Like a Rolling Stone thoroughly fascinating – but the fact that it reflects upon the human condition within the terms of one man’s life should appeal to just about anyone.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.