Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
We are recirculating it timed to its theatrical release.
Based on a 2008 novel by Shannon Burke,AsphaltCityhas a pretty familiar set-up.
These men both have pasts, of a sort.
Ollie has memories of his mothers suicide, and of his inability to help her.
He himself is long past that stage.
Few actors are as convincing at being just generally angry at the world.
Despite a repetitive, episodic structure,AsphaltCityis never boring.
Sauvaire films each encounter like a vision of hell.
Gang members bleeding out.
Addicts passed out on laundromat floors.
Abused wives being screamed at by their shithead husbands.
Purple babies born to dying moms.
Dogs shot for no reason (and then used as props for gruesome practical jokes by the EMTs).
But its also sometimes ridiculous.
The movie, by contrast, feels purposefully stylized.
Locked into the perspective of its protagonists, the film denies the people around these EMTs their humanity.
They dont have names, and they barely have faces.
Theyre just body parts and screams.
Obviously, EMTs get called for emergencies; they dont get called for birthday parties.
Its tough to watch, and even tougher to take.
That is exactly what does happen but when the moment comes, it feels strangely cursory.
