Asphalt City (2023) review

Novice paramedic Cross (Tye Sheridan), who is employed by the FDNY but is studying the MCAT with the intention of going to medical school, has to deal with bullying by his co-workers and tending to injured drug dealers and addicts with agitated crowds interfering with his work - he's also trapped with two different partners: first it's workaholic Rutkovsky (Sean Penn), who gets suspended for kicking a police officer, and then sociopath Lafontaine (Michael Pitt).  Director Sauvaire only has two modes, (1.) frantic sequences involving extreme blood loss and (2.) "pensive" moments of looking out of windows, "contemplating life," while the main female characters, Cross' lover Clara (Raquel Nave) and Rutkovsky's ex-wife Nancy (Katherine Waterston), aren't given much of anything to say ... presumably because it's a "Man's World" and they're "necessary obstacles."  It's basically a long string of traumatizing calls but it cannot be faulted for a lack of intensity - and Penn is very good as Cross' tragic "mentor" - yet the dedication to EMS workers in the closing credits does seem a little misplaced, especially with Pitt's character casually "playing god" with individuals he's supposed to try to save.