Trainwreck: Balloon Boy

Richard Heene alerts the authorities that his son, Falcon, has climbed into a homemade UFO balloon. The giant silver, helium-filled structure flies off at a pace; it becomes a major news story. The balloon is tracked by the authorities, officials, and seemingly most of America.

This was such a bizarrely entertaining documentary, one of those where you almost watch in horror, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. Someone please explain to me why and how so many people were taken in by the story.

There was a lot of fascinating footage, including the initial lift off scene.

I thought Richard Heene was wonderfully charismatic and entertaining, but there was no way on earth he didn't know that Falcon was not in the balloon.

Richard definitely had a desire to grab a little bit of fame; why else would he have appeared on Wife Swap? His behavior on that show was designed to get himself noticed, no other reason. That moment where Falcon told the cameras that it was all a game was so revealing.

Did anyone truly think that Falcon was in that balloon? Genuinely? Let's be honest, this could only have happened in America.

7/10.

I lived in Colorado when this happened as like many others that day I watched it all play out on TV news. When it all came out that the kid wasnt in there, people were not happy. And it quickly turned on the family when no one quiet believed the story. This guy was what would now be called a social media wannabe. That whole family was bred and raised to further his attempt to be TV famous. From the moment this guy got caught he did nothing but obfuscate, throw his kids under the bus, and outright lie. It was like if baby Jessica had been a hoax. People in Colorado immediately turned on him and the family. He got his 15 minutes but now one in that area will ever forgive this family for the hoax.

This family is disgusting. They are such terrible actors. Why would Netflix give them more publicity? From the start of this "documentary" really just "Crazy Family Storytime" the family is just putting on a show for the cameras. Every time they're on camera it's like watching a bad TikTok skit. Falcon himself is completely without credibility. He has gone on record saying the whole episode is foggy to him and that most of what he remembers is from videos. Yet he recounts minute-by-minute details of the day in this program. Give me a break. This show is beneath Netflix. This family should have never been heard from again.

I like the Trainwreck series. It's kinda cheesy but fun to watch. But this... this is a disaster.

I'm sorry, but I won't buy it. It's clear every second of this is a script the father has concocted, forcing every family member to act. Absolutely bad acting, to boot. It's a terrible way to garner attention, and everyone noticed it, and they didn't give them the attention they wanted. But then years later, Netflix comes around and says, "Here's the attention you ordered." It's a huge disappointment that Netflix would give something like this a run for its money.

I feel bad for the kids, Richard and his wife are showing us what bad parenting is, moment by moment. And the man shamelessly acts like the victim, oh my God, how is such shamelessness possible?

The Train Wreck series is pretty cheesy. The documentaries and sensationalistic and tacky. This one, Balloon Boy, goes above and beyond.

The father is clearly manic and is basically a clone of Cody from Sister Wives in temperament and ego. He is screaming for attention 24/7, even whwn he already has it.

The mother is clueless in every way a person can be and is completely controlled by the father. I don't know what happened to her that makes her that subservient, but it's pathetic to witness.

The sons are misogynistic tools, programmed by daddy. Beware.

Watching the documentary, and especially the father, made my skin crawl.