Asphalt City

For a film that zigzags between life-or-death scenarios, Asphalt City is more concerned with establishing a gritty urban milieu than probing the people within it.

At its core, the film salutes first responders, not just for their courage and heroism but the mental toughness and required to withstand the psychological toll and constant stress.

However, this chronicle of the first week on the night shift for a rookie Brooklyn paramedic comes off as shallow and formulaic rather than edgy and provocative.

We watch as Ollie (Tye Sheridan) deals with ungrateful lowlifes, often the same people he’s trying to help. Given the grueling circumstances dictated by an often thankless job, he develops a thick skin.

During a hectic first night of back-to-back calls, he’s paired with Gene (Sean Penn), a grizzled veteran who becomes a trusted mentor for Ollie despite his reputation for pushing the bounds of professional decorum and protocol.

A run-in with their supervisor after a mishap during a distress call from a pregnant addict (Kali Reis) lands Gene a suspension. That leaves Ollie partnered temporarily with an erratic hothead (Michael Pitt) whose moral compass is even more off-center.

Ollie’s personal life isn’t going much better, as he’s struggling to focus on his MCAT preparation or find time for the single mother (Raquel Nave) he recently started seeing.

Eventually and inevitably, he’s pushed to the brink of a breakdown. “You start doing this job because you want to help people,” he confesses, “and sometimes you wind up doing the exact opposite.”

Sheridan finds depth through body language and facial expressions amid the constant chaos around him. The attempts to get inside Ollie’s head through flashbacks or dream sequences feel disjointed and forced.

By its nature, the film from French director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (A Prayer Before Dying) overflows with brooding machismo, toggling between incidents and subplots at a breakneck pace. Some of the vivid emergencies are not for the squeamish.

The screenplay, adapted from a novel by Shannon Burke, doesn’t offer much genuine insight in part because it emphasizes extremes and exaggerations that maintain an emotional detachment.

Sheridan and Penn maintain a convincing rapport while the nihilistic and sensationalistic film tries to wrap Ollie and moviegoers into its jaded cynicism. Instead, Asphalt City is a dead end.

Rated R, 125 minutes.