(CNN) Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's glittering collaborative history adds a crowning cherry with "The Irishman," an epic, decades-spanning mob movie that hits theaters, briefly, before a date with Netflix. Oozing prestige, the movie's 3 ½-hour length works against it, certainly in terms of making the case to watch it somewhere other than at home.

To get the main questions out of the way, yes, the film gives Netflix a legitimate Oscar contender; no, the de-aging of key characters isn't particularly distracting; and no, the movie didn't need to be this long.

In essence, Netflix has let Scorsese release his director's cut, and absorb the steep costs , in its thirst for an awards contender, when the first 45 minutes or so -- before Al Pacino swoops in, devouring scenery as Jimmy Hoffa -- and last half-hour easily could have been nipped and tucked without losing a whole lot.

If the portions are too big, though, at least it's a gourmet meal, inviting inevitable comparisons to "Goodfellas." Here, it's De Niro's hitman Frank Sheeran -- who became union boss Hoffa's right-hand man -- serving as the narrator/guide through a history that encompasses the mob helping John F. Kennedy get elected, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Hoffa's struggles with the Justice Dept. and his disappearance in 1975.

Adapted by Steven Zaillian from Charles Brandt's book "I Heard You Paint Houses" (mob code for discussing a hit), "The Irishman" includes a who's who of Scorsese regulars, including a particularly splendid Joe Pesci as the gentlemanly Russell Bufalino -- Frank's mob mentor -- and Harvey Keitel as the boss of bosses.

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