Exit to Eden (1994)

Elliot is going to the island of Eden to live out his submissive fantasies, but inadvertently photographs diamond smugglers at work. Smugglers, and detectives, follow him to the island, ... See full summary »

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writers:

Anne Rice (novel), Deborah Amelon (screenplay)

Stars:

Dana Delany, Dan Aykroyd, Rosie O'Donnell

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dana Delany	...	Lisa
Paul Mercurio	...	Elliot
Rosie O'Donnell	...	Sheila
Dan Aykroyd	...	Fred
Hector Elizondo	...	Martin
Stuart Wilson	...	Omar
Iman	...	Nina
Sean O'Bryan	...	Tommy
Stephanie Niznik	...	Diana
Phil Redrow	...	Richard
Sandra Taylor	...	Riba (as Sandra Korn)
Julie Hughes	...	Julie
Laurelle Mehus	...	Heidi
Tom Hines	...	Nolan
Alison Moir	...	Kitty (as Allison Moir)

Storyline

Elliot is going to the island of Eden to live out his submissive fantasies, but inadvertently photographs diamond smugglers at work. Smugglers, and detectives, follow him to the island, where they try to retrieve the film. Elliot begins falling in love with Lisa, the head mistress of the island, and Lisa must evaluate her feelings about Elliot and her own motivations.

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Plot Keywords:

bondage | bdsm | spanking | los angeles police department | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

To crack this case, these two cops will have to flash more than their badges.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nudity and sex-related scenes

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Club Eden: L'Île aux fantasmes

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,012,695, 16 October 1994, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,841,570

Company Credits

Production Co:

Savoy Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the film was originally released on October 14, 1994, in North America, it was banned in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan (the only place it was banned). When asked in an interview about it, Dan Aykroyd quipped; "I guess they just don't have sex in Saskatchewan." It was finally released a mere week after its original release date (October 21, 1994) to Saskatchewan audiences.

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Goofs

After Detective Shelia has asked for Elliot and he comes to her room, Elliot is telling her he wants to leave to go to the race. The leaves hanging behind Shelia appear and disappear with each camera change. As she sits down, you can see it's a vine hanging down to the wardrobe handle but the length changes as the scene plays out.

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Quotes

Sheila Kingston: Why are we pretending your bag isn't buzzing? You bought a vibrator.

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Crazy Credits

Hector Elizondo's title credit is prefixed by 'As Usual', referring to the number of times Elizondo has appeared in films directed by Garry Marshall

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Connections

References Dragnet (1987)

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Soundtracks

Pumpin' Jumpin'
Written by Stephen Theard and Derrick Xavier Gumbus (as Derrick Gumbus)
Performed by New World Beat
Courtesy of Windswept Pacific Entertainment Co.

User Reviews

One of the few movies to tackle s&m culture from a non-violent perspective

While not the greatest nor funniest movie I have ever seen, Exit to Eden is unique in that it treats s&m in a non-threatening manner. Unlike most movies which use s&m and b&d as tools to orchestrate a character's psychotic behavior, or to show a ridiculous or funny fetish trait of someones, Exit to Eden shows s&m in a very flattering light--portraying it as sensual and serious, but also playful and fun. Since the subject of this lifestyle has rarely been explored in mainstream movies, this is very important and I would even dare to say groundbreaking, in terms of working to eliminate taboos and misconceptions about a subject through the cinematic medium. Like movies which have dared to display gay and interracial relationships in a realistic light, rather than pandering to cliched stereotypes, Exit to Eden shows that s&m culture can be a very normal, non-violent part of the average person's life. Yes, some of the lines are corny and the acting is less than convincing, but Delany and Mercurio make a dynamite couple with some great chemistry. All in all, I would say this was a decent movie which provides a great service--educating the public about s&m culture--and one which breaks new ground in its presentation of its subject matter.