If “Gimme The Loot” answers a call, it might be one from fans of “Kids” with more delicate sensibilities. Drop the HIV and inebriated rape, sculpt a more recognizable storyline, and you’ve got director Adam Leon’s petty crime Hero’s Journey through New York City.

Fledgling graffiti artists Sofia and Malcolm (tag name: Shakes) run the streets of the Bronx and beyond. Or rather they try to — it seems as soon as they get up a respectable tag, it’s desecrated by rival groups of “writers.” They set their sights higher and decide to take on a never-pulled-off heist: “bombing” the huge apple that rises every time a Mets player bats a home run at Citi Field. Financing their illicit feat is a hurdle, though. They embark on a two-day quest to scrape together $500, ambling across the sticky urban landscape from subterranean drug dens to a rich girl’s family penthouse. Along the way, Malcolm and Sofia find the limits of their morality, teetering on the edge of right and wrong.

Theirs is not a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop, but Leon and cinematographer Jonathan Miller use that to their advantage. The winner of SXSW’s Grand Jury Prize wallows in low-quality grit — think 1990s HBO. Mid-range, waist-level shots of the cast’s sweaty bodies are remarkably effective, impressing upon us the stench of a New York City summer. 

A little grime won’t deter Sofia, played by Tashiana Washington, and Malcolm, Ty Hickson, from their mission. Despite long odds and a constant dance of one step forward, two steps back, the taggers remain steadfast throughout the plot. Washington and Hickson don’t always seem on board with their characters’ dedication, though. They keep things low-key, at times to a fault — I caught myself wondering if casting directors Lindsay Burdge and Eleonore Hendricks had maybe scavenged the city’s youth workshops for talent. 

The actors bring their own brand of realness to a solid script, and they do have shining moments, especially in scenes with Fagin-esque mentor Champion (played by Meeko). In another scene, Malcolm steps between Sofia and an insufferable creep, hinting he may have more weight to throw around than previously thought. His puppy-love rollercoaster fawning over rich girl Ginnie (Zoë Lescaze) is just crushing enough — though as bratty and entitled as Ginnie is during their first rose-colored exchanges in her lofty bedroom, it’s hard to say why he finds her so beguiling.

Sofia, on the other hand, is at her best while flirting with former flame Kaps (Melvin Mogoli). When he invites her to swing by after his party dies down, we blush right along with her. Love and other misguided affections are a central point in “Gimme The Loot,” almost as much as the ultimate tag itself. Thankfully though, the movie never delves too deeply into the inevitable will-they-won’t-they territory between our two heroes.  

Instead, the film might double for some as a sociological exercise in street culture. We leave with a greater appreciation for the bold, looping tags that adorn billboards, overpasses and unsuspecting delivery trucks around our bustling cities. For Shakes, Sofia and their punk rivals, the carefully refined calling cards are everything, the legacy they leave with each fleeting mark. These spray-painted credentials howl from the trenched rooftops long after their owners depart, and can be used as retaliation in dealing with neighborhood foes. 

We watch Sofia slap a scrawled nametag on the plastic windows of a crooked bodega when she’s denied money in a cell phone resell. Later on, she’s leaving Kaps’ apartment with a smile when a pack of kids jump her in the stairwell, scribbling “WKC” on her shirt — Sofia fights back, but the attack is in the same vein as a rushed, fumbling sexual assault. The next time we see her, she’s turned the shirt inside out to downplay her shame, take back even a bit of her tagger pride. The film’s escalating placement of these incidents helps us grasp why Sofia and Malcolm care so much about landing the Mets apple bomb.

The end of their escapade comes neatly, a touch too sweetly given the muck and grunge of the rest of the film. Throughout, we’re reminded that Malcolm and Sofia are at their core good kids, even as they set up plans for home burglaries and drug deal scams. By the end of the movie, we’ve forgotten our own scale of ethics: It’s charming and mildly thrilling when Malcolm lifts a bouquet from an outdoor flower stand while Sofia distracts the cashier. 

That shift in audience morality is fairly impressive for a quick, slice-of-life film like “Gimme The Loot.” After all, we only have 81 minutes and two days’ time to shuffle into Malcolm and Sofia’s sneakers and increasingly ragged T-shirts. Leon does himself a favor by not trying to tackle too much here. This isn’t “Do The Right Thing,” — race is hardly addressed. And that’s ok. Not every movie set on the streets of New York’s boroughs can tackle the world’s social ills. Sometimes it’s enough to offer a glimpse into a neighborhood unlike our own. And if, like in “Gimme The Loot,” you can sneak in an engaging storyline and likable characters, you’ve hit the jackpot.

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