Bette Midler begins as a red-hot mama and winds up as Mother Courage.

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Brecht, whose classic works include "The Threepenny Opera, " co-written with Kurt Weil, and "Mother Courage and Her Children, " wrote the play while in exile himself in America.

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If we're honest, Streep's also been known to overplay comedy, and yes, she does have to nibble on a banana in one of the movie's more predictable turns, but at heart this is a lovely portrait of repressed housewife and mother finding the courage to put everything on the line late in life.

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