Dad's in Heaven with Nixon

‘Dad’s in Heaven’ great family documentary

TOM (left) and Christopher Murray from "My Dad's in Heaven with Nixon."

“Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon” is a documentary of a typical American family that is, well, not that typical.

Of course, you could argue any documentary about any family can’t be too typical.

First-time director Tom Murray chronicles his family in his first movie.

As you settle down to watch this movie, which includes a lot of grainy old family films from the 1920s to the 60s, you realize the narrative feels disjointed and uneven. Perhaps because it is the work of a novice filmmaker.

But by the time the movie is over, you discover his approach works pretty well.

Tom Murray comes from a big, somewhat well-to-do family that spent its summers on the beach at Long Island in the 1960s. Every day the kids tackled the waves, played on the beach, had a great summer.

They lived in their own beach house. And if you had checked 40 years before that, the Murray family then enjoyed the beach and beachouse, with Tom’s father as the youngest member of his family.

Hence all of the footage of children frolicking on the beach.

And we do get the obligatory family photographs of the so-called typical American family.

Ah, but wait, youngest brother Christopher, born in spring 1960, was deprived of oxygen as a child and developed more slowly than the rest.

He couldn’t walk until he was 16 months. He couldn’t speak until he was 4. He went to a parade of child psychologists and developmental specialists before he was diagnosed as autistic.

While there are other siblings, Christopher is on camera more as he stammers to get his point across. He’s friendly, he has a sense of humor. He doesn’t have an inferiority complex.

Their aging mother, Janice, spends her life working to make sure Christopher is independent and can live on his own when she dies.

So there we have it. The story of a unique family in which one sibling has autism. But brother, that isn’t the whole story.

Suddenly the perspective changes from to their father, Thomas E. Murray II, and then his father.

His father had dozens of patents dealing with electricity. He worked with Thomas Edison to get electricity into peoples’ homes. He was good friends with mayors and governors and other politicians. The family had money.

But Grandpa Murray also ignored Thomas E., the filmmaker’s father. When their father got home from a trip, the children lined up on the steps for a gift. But he told Thomas E. he was undeserving of a gift.

Grandpa Murray also drank from morning to night, dying of cirrhosis of the liver at a young age.

He left a mark on Thomas E. he could never lose. He was a failure at real estate. He was a failure on Wall Street. The family possessions disappeared to satisfy the debt.

And as the story of the family patriarch plays out, we suddenly find ourselves back to the story of Christopher.

Christopher has a measure of independence. He no longer lives in a group home. He can cook for himself. He knows how to take buses where he wants to go. He has jobs at a hospital and a grocery store.

But then we discover yet another talent of Christopher’s, as well as the origin of the title of the movie.

Suddenly it dawns: this young autistic boy who was given little change to succeed in the 1960s is more of a success than his bright father, more secure, happier.

And during it all, the filmmaker, Tom, the eldest brother, learns more about himself.

This is a monumental film anyone who has brothers and sisters can relate to. It is a story about a real American family
DAD’S IN HEAVEN WITH NIXON • Directed, produced and written by Tom Murray • 4 stars out of 5