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A lot can happen in the lifetime of a buzzed-about Oscar flick, but for now, critics seem to be enjoying Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. This morning, the mob drama made its highly-anticipated debut at the New York Film Festival, and it was met with rave reviews from critics. As Decider’s senior film reporter Anna Menta put it, star Robert “De Niro was good enough” that Scorsese’s digital de-aging process “didn’t matter.”

READ ANNA MENTA’S FULL REVIEW OF THE IRISHMAN

Scorsese’s latest mob drama stars De Niro as Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who becomes involved in Jimmy Hoffa’s (Al Pacino) disappearance. Rather than hire another actor to play young Sheeran, De Niro plays the character across multiple decades, a process that required digitally de-aging the 76-year-old star. On Wednesday, Netflix released the first photos of “young” De Niro as a World War II soldier, and critics — as well as everyday Twitter users — had a field day; however, reactions at the screening proved more positive.

Alright, more coherent thoughts on #TheIrishman to come in my review tonight but I’ll say this for now because I know people are curious about it: The de-aging worked for me! Jarring at first, but you got used to it, and De Niro was good enough that it didn’t matter.

— Anna Menta (@annalikestweets) September 27, 2019

CAPTAIN MARVEL de-aging VFX walked so THE IRISHMAN's can run. Seamless. Completely seamless. I swear if some space movie wins best Visual Effects of the year, imma riot. #NYFF

— Rendy Jones @ NYFF (@Rendy_Jones) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is like a greatest hits album from a master of the medium. Yes, that’s a positive.

The artifice of de-aging is more feature than bug.

It’s not “slow.” It often moves like lightening & elsewhere it’s downright Bressonian.

This is not a review! Those are embargoed.

— erickohn (@erickohn) September 27, 2019

The cast is great and the production design is fantastic and obviously there's all the de-aging wizardry. But the real hero of Scorsese's team, as it always is, yet somehow even more so here, is Thelma Schoonmaker. The editing in The Irishman is simply virtuosic.

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) September 27, 2019

On the whole, critics were complementary of The Irishman, which clocks in at a staggering 209 minutes, or three hours and 29 minutes. Critics praised the long-gestating project, and many seemed surprised by the film’s humor. “All hail the King,” tweeted Jordan Hoffman. “The Irishman is a masterwork. Funny, epic, and most of all, melancholy,” said Chris Evangelista. “The Irishman is an American epic that deals with time & the passing of it,” wrote Matt Neglia.

THE IRISHMAN is not GOODFELLAS/CASINO part 3. Different pace different tone. It is, however, absolutely fucking fantastic and I am floored. All hail the King.

— Jordan Hoffman (@jhoffman) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is like a greatest hits album from a master of the medium. Yes, that’s a positive.

The artifice of de-aging is more feature than bug.

It’s not “slow.” It often moves like lightening & elsewhere it’s downright Bressonian.

This is not a review! Those are embargoed.

— erickohn (@erickohn) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is a masterwork. Funny, epic, and most of all, melancholy. It’s Scorsese confronting aging, legacies, and mortality. I may or may not have teared up at the end…

— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) September 27, 2019

The Irishman is good. I laughed a lot.

— k austin collins (@melvillmatic) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN – Audacious, epic, a film that feels like it spans lifetimes yet whisks by. Technically bold, performances raw and darkly humourous, it is the culmination of Scorsese's genre fascinations, and a late career triumph. Truly cinematic, demanding to be seen big #nyff57

— Jason Gorber @ #NYFF (@filmfest_ca) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN: Think GOODFELLAS, but directed by the man who gave us SILENCE. A culmination, meditation and tribute to every Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci collaboration. And yet, Al Pacino towers over all of them with a funny, sad and haunting performance as Jimmy Hoffa.

— Jordan Ruimy @ #NYFF (@mrRuimy) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is an American epic that deals with time & the passing of it..209 minutes of it. De Niro is internal & Pacino is external while it’s great to see Pesci back. Scorsese’s latest is deliberately paced, funny & explores new territory with a genre he’s very familiar with.

— Matt Neglia @NYFF (@NextBestPicture) September 27, 2019

#TheIrishman was well worth the red eye flight and well worth every single minute of that 3 and a half hour run time. More to come in a review on @ColliderVideo later but that lead trio is just as good as you’d hope & it marks another triumph for Thelma Schoonmaker. #NYFF

— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is awesome. It’s a stone cold classic and really plays as a poignant meditation on Scorsese’s entire career. Loved De Niro and Pesci. But Pacino is electric. He steals the film.

— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) September 27, 2019

THE IRISHMAN is good! takes 90 minutes to lock in & clear out the cobwebs / adjust to CGI, but the scope is a virtue, the performances are killer (Joseph! Frank! Pesci!) & it eventually coheres into a heart-stopping meditation on the myopia of time. an old man movie for the ages.

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) September 27, 2019

I love THE IRISHMAN so much because it’s far more than another gangland notch on Scorsese’s belt. It’s an American epic concerned with profound moral decay and a lifetime’s festering regret. De Niro is sublime. Pacino is electric, with Pesci the calming foil. And it flies by!

— Kris Tapley (@kristapley) September 27, 2019

Scorsese’s mob drama will screen again at the 2019 New York Film Festival later today (head to the NYFF website for screening and standby information). The Irishman will open in select theaters on November 1 before hitting Netflix globally on November 27.