Watching wild things

It was about the wildest thing a boy could do. That was the initial fascination with the Balloon Boy story that captivated TV viewers today -- the notion of a small boy riding in an out-of-control space-age weather balloon was terrifying, dangerous, and utterly believable. Boys are impulsive. They disobey orders. They test boundaries. They climb into things. And as that silver balloon floated silently over Colorado, sometimes in slow motion, sometimes shockingly fast, it evoked some of the thrill rides of literature and film -- Curious George's high-flying travels on a kite, Daniel Craig's far more tragic bout with a balloon in "Enduring Love," the movie based on Ian McEwan's book.

The flight of Falcon Heene -- the flight that wasn't -- seemed far closer to Curious George's, an act of innocent boldness, a dance with danger for danger's sake. That same spirit permeates "Where The Wild Things Are," the visually-stunning and moving film that opens tomorrow. It's an amazingly faithful extrapolation of Maurice Sendak's book (I know that sounds strange, but it's true). And it's a tribute, a love song, to the way boys play: violently, loudly, dangerously.

Of course, there's more to the story of the Heenes, which made today's TV drama that much more bizarre and gave the psychologists something to talk about during recaps on the evening talk shows. The family is reportedly obsessed with science and did a couple of crazy turns on ABC's "Wife Swap," in which the father behaved like a wild young boy, himself. They made a rap video starring the three sons and posted it on YouTube. Youngest brother Falcon seems oddly precocious in some ways, chasing tornadoes and rapping for video cameras. But today, he turned out to be a typical six-year-old boy, hiding for the reasons a six-year-old might. He was scared, self-centered, innocent, confused. And, thankfully, he was safe.

Edited to add: Wow, the backlash is swift and frenzied. And, after learning a bit more about Richard Heene -- and watching him on "Wife Swap" -- I have some healthy skepticism myself. I still believe what I said about six-year-old boys, and I still believe this could have been an accident. But the family isn't doing much to dispel the conspiracy theories. Below, CNN's Wolf Blitzer tries to press the family on Falcon's statement that he "did this for the show." Richard pushes back. See what you think.

More updates: TMZ reports that the Heenes have been shopping a reality show about themselves. And the New York Times reports that Colorado authorities will conduct an investigation into whether the family filed a false report.