What’s It About
Ollie Cross is a young paramedic assigned to the NYC night shift with an uncompromising and seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky. Each 911 call is often dangerous and uncertain, putting their lives on the line every day to help others.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Asphalt City is a film that depicts the lives and work of a small group of New York City paramedics. The movie studies the emotional and psychological transference that’s probably required for many people doing this job. The main character, Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan), is a newcomer overwhelmed by life-or-death situations at every turn. His mentor, Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn), has been a full-time paramedic for probably longer than Cross has been alive. He has seen and experienced worse, so he’s the kind of guy to talk about such matters. The first sections of this story follow these two men on the job. The film’s central issue is that the life of a paramedic is one of continual personal issues mixed with persistent professional strain. It compares being near death to a virus. Our protagonist, for example, found his mother dead by suicide as a kid, and his inability to provide any aid led him to pursue a medical career. He moved from a small town in Colorado to New York, where he got a job in the city’s emergency medical services while studying for a medical school exam. It’s not just that his shift begins with a gunshot victim dying. Nobody else on the team seems to care about that result. They’ve become numb to the fact of death. The little breaks the two paramedics get while on duty aren’t exactly eventful for a while. Rutkovsky won’t talk to his new partner about anything. Cross is stuck in his books and has no life beyond his job and studying for his exam. There’s an occasional and neat visual of the flashing red lights of the ambulance bleeding into Cross’ off-duty hours. The silences are broken by calls on the radio—people who have been injured, have overdosed, have suffered a seizure or asthma attack or from some other medical condition, or have just fallen asleep on the floor of a laundromat. Gradually, the two men bond over the shared experience, some gallows humor, and mutual respect from knowing they’re the only two people who genuinely understand what each one has seen on these shifts. Sheridan brings a sense of earnestness and naïveté to the newcomer. At the same time, Penn suggests a weariness that has sunk into the very essence of Rutkovsky’s soul. The man has a realistic way of doing things. He can’t answer the questions from Cross’ book but almost instinctively knows how to treat a patient. As a study of the pressure of the work, the movie succeeds, especially in those sequences of them doing the job and because of the lead performances. However, it stumbles as we get to know Rutkovsky. In a decision involving a baby that changes the entire course of the story, Rutkovsky’s outlook subtly shifts toward some power trip. Everything takes a much darker tone in the build-up to the climactic scene—beyond the bloody and often hopeless nature of the job, toward how it alters or highlights the nature of these men. Rutkovsky has moments of ego, perhaps spurred by his most recent ex-wife (played by Katherine Waterston) deciding to leave the city with the paramedic’s daughter. Cross starts a pseudo-romance with a single mother (played by Raquel Nave), whose existence here boils down to the scene in which Cross shows how affected by the pain and power of the work he has become. Meanwhile, Michael C. Pitt occasionally shows up as a fellow paramedic who sees the thankless results of his efforts as an excuse to be resentful, aggressive, and violent. It’s all a bit too much, mainly because Asphalt City is so convincing for a while as an examination of people under extreme pressure and how that seeps into the fiber of how they try to live with it. The idea is baked into the everyday nature of this story, so when the movie attempts to force it, the effort feels redundant. It’s troubling to consider that the people on the frontlines of saving lives live horrible lives. If this is what EMTs go through regularly, I would never want to be one. This film is either too honest or only highlights the bad stuff. In conclusion, Asphalt City is a film that depicts the harsh realities of the lives of paramedics in New York City. The movie studies the emotional and psychological impact of dealing with life-or-death situations at every turn. The film shows the work’s pressure, especially in the sequences where the paramedics are on the job. However, the narrative stumbles as it attempts to force the issue of the emotional and psychological impact. Regardless, the lead performances by Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn are powerful, and the film is an eye-opener for those who may not fully appreciate the sacrifices made by paramedics.
OUR RATING – A VERY DEPRESSING 5