Tied for most-quoted character in Now You See Me (2013): in 5 of its 13 quotes
A line from Daniel AtlasFirst rule of magic: always be the smartest guy in the room.
Daniel Atlas Let me warn you. I want you to follow. Because no matter what you think you might know, we will always be 1 step, 3 steps, 7 steps ahead of you. And just when you think you're catching up, that's when we'll be right behind you. And at no time will you be anywhere other than exactly where I want you to be. So come close, get all over me; because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see.
Daniel Atlas Come in close. Closer. Because the more you think you see, the easier it will be to fool you. Because what is seeing? You're looking, but what you're actually doing is filtering, interpreting, searching for meaning. My job? To take that most precious of gifts you give me, your attention, and use it against you. I’m going to flip through this deck and I want you to see one card. Not this one. That’s too obvious. Pay close attention. [quickly flips through the deck] That was too fast. I’ll do it again. Are you ready? Okay. [does it again, slower] Now did you see one?
Yes.
Daniel Atlas Do you have one in mind?
Yes.
Daniel Atlas Now, do you see your card here?
No.
Daniel Atlas That’s because you’re looking too closely. And what have I been telling you all night? The closer you look…
The less you see.
Thank you. Tonight we would like to try something that will, well, set us a bit apart.
For our final trick, we're gonna do something never before seen on a Las Vegas stage.
Or any stage for that matter.
Daniel Atlas Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are going to rob a bank.
So if you had nothing to do with it, then how did the playing card get in the vault?
Daniel Atlas Oh, yes. That would be...What do the kids call it these days? Oh, yeah, that's right, magic.
Just answer the question, okay, smart-ass.
Daniel Atlas You can keep that. Don't share it with him. Um, as far as I understand it, when the man from Paris put on the magical helmet, I guess it was -
Listen to me. If you didn't rob that bank, then you knew about it. Which makes you an accomplice. So if you wanna walk out of here today, I suggest that you start -
Daniel Atlas Okay, now you listen to me. Unless you think there's a DA in the state of Nevada who'd be willing to make sense of all this to a jury, then we have a show to perform. And you, Agent Rhodes, have a drawing board to get back to.
You are literally begging to be arrested, you know that?
Daniel Atlas If it means you would actually do it, then yeah, but you won't. Because if you did, it means that you, and the FBI, and your friends at Interpol actually believe - at an institutional level - in magic. The press would have a field day. And we'd be even more famous than we already are. And you guys would look like idiots even more than you already are. [to Alma] Well, not you, but him, right? [back to Rhodes] You have, what we in the business like to call "nothing up your sleeve". And you know it.
You wanna know who sat in that chair before you? Mob bosses, murderers and thieves. And you know who put 'em there? The guy who's sitting in this chair. So I warn you, I can maintain my resolve much longer than you can maintain that phony arrogance. And the instant that you even show the slightest crack in that smug façade, I'll be there. I will be all over you like -
Daniel Atlas Like white on rice? Sorry, that's unfair. Let me warn you. I want you to follow. Because no matter what you think you might know, we will always be one step, three steps, seven steps ahead of you. And just when you think you're catching up, that's when we'll be right behind you. And at no time will you be anywhere other than exactly where I want you to be. So come close, get all over me; because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see.
Daniel Atlas Something wrong with that soda, miss?
Daniel Atlas Oh, shit. [grabs Rhodes' phone before the liquid can touch it] First rule of magic: Always be the smartest guy in the room.
