電影American Traitor基於真實曆史事件改編，老戲骨Al Pacino再展《聞香識女人》之功力，再次用長達數分鍾的結庭辯詞震撼陪審團，他不單是為女主辯護，更是請陪審團回憶國父們建國的初衷。一通陳詞之後，女主的八項控罪被免了七項，她參與廣播劇的行為仍然被視為共謀而有罪，也是恰當。
二戰時女主在德國，參加了柏林對美國的廣播，並吸引了3千萬美國粉絲，她是不是個“美奸”就成為了法庭爭辯的中心。為她辯護的律師卻沒有循著這個思路來論辯，而是提醒陪審團，國父當初建國，是為了防止暴君、暴政、暴民，如今，陪審團千萬不可以因為愛國熱情高漲，因為懲罰戰犯情緒激動，而祭出絞索，把一個被脅迫的女子當做出氣筒、替罪羊、正義聲張的管道，他請陪審團設身處地想一下，如果自己身處柏林，被槍指著，為了苟活，是不是也會這樣做？那麽這樣做，難道就是“叛國”嗎？
很值得慶幸的是陪審團還算冷靜、還算理智，沒有被報紙上鋪天蓋地的“絞死她！”或者“不判她有罪你就有罪了！”之類的左右，作出了公平的結論。
當然，女主在德國找到真愛、自己原生家庭破碎之類，文藝創作味道多了點，如同王佳芝下不了狠心，沒有完成黨交給她的任務，隻能說還是長了肉心的業餘人士罷。
精彩台詞摘錄如下：
“Anyone who thinks, must think of entering this war as they would of suicide.” Eleanor Roosevelt said that.
“Never think that this war, no matter how justified, is not a crime” And that is Ernest Hemingway.
But neither of them was on trial for treason, why is that?
Like Miss Gillars, they opposed our involvement in the war.
And like Miss Gillars, they spoke out about it.
But unlike Miss Gillars, neither of them had a gun to their head.
And unlike Miss Gillars, their words were not spoon fed to them by the Nazis.
Miss Gillars is on trial for eight counts of treason, for reading from a script she did not write, saying words she did not believe in, and being ordered to say these words on penalty of death.
And now this prosecution would have her hanged.
“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.”
I’ve heard that before. That’s the First Amendment.
Mrs. Roosevelt, Hemingway and all the others, they say what they said, and our American laws protected them.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you must understand.
America is watching.
The world is watching us, all of us.
If Miss Gillars is found guilty, freedom of speech may no longer be our right.
It will be a privilege, and a privilege can be revoked at any time, for any reason.
But let’ be honest, right now, Axis Sally was not a person.
Axis Sally was a persona, a character that Miss Gillars played on a radio show.
And here’s the long and short of it.
Nobody died.
Not a single, solitary American life was lost because of Miss Gillars’ radio broadcast, not one.
That’s a fact.
On the other hand, many a worried parent, American mothers, fathers, they all got comfort, because they were hearing about their son’s whereabouts through her radio programs.
Millions listened to each and every broadcast every week.
Yet this unjustly maligned and accused woman sits here today, fighting for her life, even though there’s not a signle shred of evidence, no evidence that any of her broadcasts were harmful to this country, or they in some way, undermined the morale of our fighting soldiers.
…
Don’t forget, that was a part she was forced to play.
Who is really responsible for those words?
It was the ugly propaganda machine of the Third Reich, Goebel’s and Hitler’s words, not Miss Mildred Gillars’ words. No.
Let’s stop for a minute.
And let’s just take a look at what’s really going on here.
Millions of lives were lost.
I don’t know if you can win a war that cost so much.
But I don know that there isn’t a person in this room who wasn’t affected by this war, not a person.
So what do we do?
…
We want justice for this war.
We want our enemies to pay dearly for what they took from us.
And we’re not wrong for wanting this.
But we must pause.
We must be vigilant in where we point the finger.
The woman who sits in this chair here is not your enemy.
She never was.
We cannot let our pain for our loss, our feelings, cloud our judgment.
Confuse blind justice with blind vengeance.
I have to say, this feels like vengeance.
We must not sacrifice this woman at the holy altar of patriotism, which very easily could be covering up a lynch mob!
Then the tyranny which we fought against for years will become us.
…
The war is over. Axis Sally’s persona is over. Miss Gillar as a person is here. Give her life back, and her freedom.
She’s an American. She always was an American. Let’s treat her like one.
We are not going to kill this woman because she managed to somehow survive, are we?
We are going to do that?
I don’t think so.
Well, I hope not.
