Exit to Eden Information

Exit to Eden is a 1994 American comedy-thriller film directed by Garry Marshall and adapted to the screen by Deborah Amelon and Bob Brunner from Anne Rampling's novel of the same name. 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.

Plot

Elliot Slater 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 and his criminal partner Nina 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 Emerson, posing as vacationers. Following a tip that Omar is on the island, undercover police officers Fred Lavery and Sheila Kingston 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, including a scene where she ties him up and plays with his bare buttocks, 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.

Cast

• Dana Delany as Lisa Emerson
• Paul Mercurio as Elliott Slater
• Rosie O'Donnell as Sheila Kingston
• Dan Aykroyd as Fred Lavery
• Donna Dixon as Fred's ex-wife
• Hector Elizondo as Dr. Martin Helifax
• Stuart Wilson as Omar
• Iman as Nina Blackstone
• Stephanie Niznik as Diana
• Sandra Taylor as Riba
• Sean O'Bryan as Tommy
• Laura Harring as M.C. Kindra
• Deborah Pratt as Dr. Williams
• Laurelle Mehus as Heide
• Rosemary Forsyth as Mrs. Brady

Production

The whips used and shown in detail were created by Janette Heartwood. This was the last film produced by Edward K. Milkis before his death in 1996.

Reception

The film garnered attention during its release because of the BDSM themes, full frontal female nudity (including Delany), and because of the high profiles of the director, 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. The film maintains a 6% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 1/2 star out of four possible stars.

One controversy occurred when it was banned by the Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board. Critics were puzzled by the banning, as Saskatchewan was the only jurisdiction known to have kept the film out of theaters. After a brief media flurry, the Board repealed the ban.

Awards and nominations

O'Donnell won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for this film (also for The Flintstones and Car 54 Where Are You?) and Aykroyd earned nominations for Worst Supporting Actor (also for North) and both O'Donnell and Aykroyd as Worst Screen Couple.

Home media

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 November 2012, neither HBO nor Focus Features, the latter of whom has begun to acquire some of Savoy's films, 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.