Pretty good for the most part. Seeing John T. Murray playing an insane person was once again a treat, and he and Chase work well off of each other doing wordplay humor at the restaurant. That makes me wonder, did Murray ever work in vaudeville or burlesque? I ask because his timing with the wordplay is really impressive, the same kind of speed that Abbott and Costello had in their best routines.
The other supporting actors are great too. I love Fred Kelsey’s reaction to Chase’s sunburn comment and Cy Schindell’s uncaring attitude about Murray’s escape. To me, the best moment goes to Vernon Dent. When he notices the taxi on fire, he alerts Chase, and normally you’d think it would cut to Chase freaking out and looking for water. But here, he actually asks Dent what he should do, and Dent just meekly says, “I don’t know.” It’s just so unexpected and unconventional that I find it so much funnier than I imagine they intended it to be.
I do have a few minor problems with it, though. I have to disagree on the cracker part. I just see it as two men trying to talk with their mouths full, and it’s hard to laugh when you can’t really understand them. I also found the ending a bit forced; I get that the concept was that the father had a bad memory and that’s why he didn’t exactly remember Chase, but...come on he had the guy arrested! You’d think he’d remember that at some point!
Outside of those two small problems, this is a very good short. I remember seeing FAST WORK a while ago, and while Dell Henderson was good in that role, I wasn’t a fan of the way it started, with Chase constantly bothering the girl and being annoying in the process. So, based off of that, I would have to say that I do prefer MANY SAPPY RETURNS, as it has a much better set up and the two problems I have with it aren’t really that bad.
9 out of 10