| Exit To Eden | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Garry Marshall |
| Produced by | Garry Marshall Edward K. Milkis |
| Written by | Deborah Amelon Bob Brunner Anne Rice (Novel) |
| Starring | Dana Delany Paul Mercurio Dan Aykroyd Rosie O'Donnell Hector Elizondo Stuart Wilson Iman |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Editing by | David Finfer |
| Distributed by | Savoy Pictures HBO (VHS/DVD) |
| Release date(s) | October 14, 1994 |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27 million |
| Box office | $6,841,570 |
Exit to Eden is a 1994 American comedy-thriller loosely based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name, directed by Garry Marshall and adapted to the screen by Deborah Amelon and Bob Brunner. The original music score was composed by Patrick Doyle.
Dana Delany stars as Lisa Emerson (named Lisa Kelly in the book) and Paul Mercurio plays Elliot Slater. Half of the film consists of a new comedic detective story line written by the director. Several new characters were also created, including Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell as police officers pursuing diamond thieves to the Eden resort.
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Elliot Slater (Paul Mercurio) is a young, attractive, Australian professional photographer living in Southern California. Having always been uncomfortable with his sexual proclivities, which tend toward the BDSM realm, he signs up for a dominatrix-themed vacation on a private tropical island known as "Eden" in the hopes of working through his discomfort.
Unbeknownst to him, prior to embarking on his journey of sexual discovery, he has unwittingly photographed an international jewel thief of whom no other photos exist. The jewel thief Omar (Stuart Wilson) and his criminal partner Nina (Iman) are intent on recovering the film in order to retain Omar's anonymity.
They follow the photographer to the island resort run by the dominatrix Mistress Lisa (Dana Delany), posing as vacationers. Following a tip that Omar is on the island, undercover police officers Fred (Dan Aykroyd) and Sheila (Rosie O'Donnell) also arrive, Sheila in the guise of a vacationer and Fred as a handyman.
Comedic antics ensue amid the activities of scantily clad guests and employees, acting out their dominant and submissive fantasies.
In the course of Elliot's experiences as Mistress Lisa's personal submissive, the two begin to fall in love. The action comes to a climax on a quick trip to New Orleans, where Lisa reluctantly admits her feelings for Elliot, all the while tailed by Omar, who attempts to kill them.
Fortunately, Fred and Sheila save the day, sending Omar and Nina to jail, and receive commendations for solving the case.
The whips used and shown in detail were created by Janette Heartwood.[1] This was the last of Edward K. Milkis's films before his death in 1996.
The film garnered attention during its release because of the BDSM themes, full frontal female nudity and because of the high profiles of the director, the cast members, and the author. Promotional materials for the film included photos of Delany in dominatrix attire.
It was generally panned by critics, however, who expressed disappointment and confusion about the combination of the original story and the comedic elements.[2][3][4]
One controversy for the film occurred when it was banned by the Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board Of Canada. Critics were puzzled by the banning, as Saskatchewan was the only jurisdiction known to have kept the film out of theatres. After a brief media flurry, the Board repealed the ban.
The film maintains a 6% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.[5] Roger Ebert gave the film 1/2 star out of four possible stars.[6]
O'Donnell won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for this film (also for The Flintstones and Car 54 Where Are You?) and earned nominations for Aykroyd as Worst Supporting Actor (also for North) and both O'Donnell and Aykroyd as Worst Screen Couple.
The film was released on VHS tape (NTSC) in May 1995, on DVD (NTSC Region 1) in April 2002 and on (PAL Region 2) in 2003 (German Version "Undercover Cop" with German and English language sound). The U.S. DVD is currently out of print, and as of March 29, 2010, neither HBO nor Focus Features, the latter of whom has begun to acquire some of Savoy's movies, has announced any plans to release a new DVD of the film. For these reasons, copies of the original DVD can be found online being sold for very high prices.
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