Movie reviews: 'The Many Saints of Newark' settles for less as an exercise in nostalgia

This week, TV pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews three new movies: 'The Many Saints of Newark,' 'The Guilty' and 'The Addams Family 2.'

"The Many Saints of Newark," the sprawling big-screen prequel to the iconic television series "The Sopranos," feels more like a pilot for a new show than the origin story of one of television's most famous families.

Broken into three parts, "The Many Saints of Newark," uses narration, courtesy of Tony Soprano's late associate Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), to break down the movie's interconnected story shards.

Firstly, there is Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), Soprano Family soldier, father of Christopher, cousin to Carmela Soprano, uncle to Tony. He's hooked up, wily and impulsive, but also treacherous. When his father, the slick sociopath 'Hollywood Dick' (Ray Liotta), returns from Italy with a new bride (Michela De Rossi), it triggers chaos in the Moltisanti family.

In Dickie's orbit is Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.), an African-American numbers-runner for the Mob, galvanized by the 1967 Newark race riots to go out on his own, and finally, Tony Soprano, played by William Ludwig as a youngster, Michael Gandolfini, the late James Gandolfini's son, as a teenager. As Dickie's thirst for power spins out of control, he becomes a surrogate father to Tony, hoping to pass along something good to the impressionable younger man as a way to atone for his sins.