Exit to Eden

Plot synopsis:
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, before 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 fondles his naked body (especially, 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. Elliot returns to Eden and proposes to Lisa, who says yes.

Tags: pornographic, romantic, comedy, sadist

Review:
I think Americans aren't used to the S&M subject being so cavalierly and matter-of-factly handled and objected to having it trivialized -- a shame, because most couples I know have enjoyed this comedy on its own merits..
This is a well made movie with some laughs, sex, and bubbly romance.Exit to Eden is Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, mild language, brief gore, and some violence..
I really enjoyed the story and managed to sit through the horrible overlapping story (All of Dan & Rosie's scenes) to catch a bit of the fantasy brought to the screen that had been in my head reading the book.
Exit to Eden was a fine erotic book by Ann Rice, full of texture, sensuality and drama, all of the things the movie is not.
Why Gary Marshall chose to turn a great novel into a non-funny comedy with the miscasting of Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd is beyond me.
Too many movies take themselves too seriously - this adds a little slapstick which gives it just the bit of colour it needs.Dan Aykroyd is as usual good, the filming is good, and for once Rosie O'Donnell entertained me more that annoying me (get more roles like this Rosie!!
- the betty rubble / mother in law things make you look bad!)I've read that some people think it's a 'silly' movie.
After all, this is the guy who directed films like "Runaway Bride" and "The Princess Diaries," and I think he produced "Laverne and Shirley."  Naturally, I wasn't expecting softcore porn!
I guess I would compare this with certain adult comedies like "The Bikini Carwash Company" and "Beauty School."I was entertained and stimulated by some of the nude scenes, and I never knew Dana Delaney had such an AWESOME body!
Don't expect the same high-energy, manic Aykroyd performance he usually delivers."Exit to Eden" works out well as softcore porn, but doesn't totally deliver as a comedy.
Anne Rice's novel "Exit To Eden" dealt with a jaded S & M dominatrix who unexpectedly fell in love with one of her submissives and goes to New Orleans to do a little soul searching.
Garry Marshall's film version deals with Elliot Slater who travels to the S & M fantasy island of Eden to deal with his sexual fantasies.
One thing can be said about veteran director Garry Marshall; he'll go nearly ANYWHERE for love and laughs.EXIT TO EDEN may be about as unlikely a mainstream comedy/romance as you'll find, with most of the action occurring at a 'Club Med'-type resort catering to S&M devotees, but someone, somewhere, might have been able to pull it off...but not, unfortunately, the ever-conventional Marshall, who, try as he might, can't make either the comedy (as two cops attempt to infiltrate the club to capture a fugitive 'hiding out' among the 'mistresses' and 'slaves') or the love story (as a somewhat jaded 'mistress' discovers the joys of conventional romance with a mysterious newcomer) more than mildly entertaining.The main problem is miscasting; while a Dan Aykroyd/Rosie O'Donnell team-up might have looked good on paper, on film the two actors have virtually no chemistry together.
Dana Delany fares somewhat better, as the Number 1 Dominatrix (her voluptuous curves, encased in leather, and brief nude scenes have made EXIT TO EDEN a video store favorite), but her personality, fundamentally sweet-natured (more 'Girl Next Door' than 'Supervixen') plays against her.
He, and Marshall 'regular' Hector Elizondo are both so good, in fact, that they seem to have been 'lifted' from a different film!EXIT TO EDEN stumbles frequently, in it's attempt to be both mainstream AND daring, and ends up being boring and a bit distasteful.
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.
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.
Completely misbegotten adaptation of Anne Rice's book about two cops (Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell, a screen-teaming which should've been a hoot) working undercover at an S&M resort to capture a ring of crooks.
Garry Marshall directed in a shamefully sloppy manner, without a clue as to how a general audience would feel about this kind of material; his narrative is so clogged with smarmy activity and failed gimmicks (like a voice-over from O'Donnell that is both unfunny and unnecessary) that the picture self-destructs even before the opening credits have finished!
The acting in this movie is horrendous, aside from Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd who play second fiddle to a couple of porn rate actors, the plot is awkward because it has to squeeze in so much sex and the directing kind of feels like a porn movie.
The only reason to watch this movie is if you really need to see some nudity, and even the sex scenes are nothing special.
This film tiptoes around its "controversial" subject (sadomasochism), and Dana Delany is terribly miscast and always unconvincing as a dominatrix -for example Iman, who co-stars here, would be a much better choice for the role of Mistress Lisa.
<sigh>This will never show up on a list of the top movies of the century (or even of the year) but for some brainless comedy, together with some serious eye candy to satisfy both men and women, it's a good way to waste a couple of hours..
Anne Rice wrote this book under a pseudonym (as well as her beauty series about Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming who isn't so charming if ya know what I mean *BUT* if you are into bdsm or erotica check out the beauty books).This movie is just a G rated version of the book the book is so much better BUT the movie does have it's charm, The book doesn't contain the two cops like int he movie so if that's what you are looking for in the book you won't find it.
I think Dana could have been more forceful as the Lisa of the book, alas this is a Garry Marshall movie so it wasn't going to get as graphic as the book.
One of the best movies I have ever seen was "Exit to Eden." Dana Delany looks like the sexiest women in the world in that movie.But there's more to it than that....Rosie O'Donnel is extremely comical in parodying the whole content of the movie throughout all her scenes.
Dan Akroyd only adds to the comedy as an amazing supporting actor.Paul Mercurio is so under-rated it's not funny.
Exit To Eden was a wonderful, fun movie to watch.
This movie was a fairly predictable cop-drama with some erotic entertainment and a love story kicked in for good measure.
Dan Ackroyd was good (although his partner definitely got the better deal :) ) Rosie O' Donnell kept me going, 'Euuuuggghhhh' through most of the movie, although she was funny...Bottom line, if you want HOT erotica, go somewhere else.
sort of a fantasy movie alright,and Delaney is beautiful but it was demeaning to men us guys don't get to say that stuff very often imagine the reverse here for a second,women being ridden like horses,women being hit on the rear even if it was with a phony cat o nine tails women tied up ,suspended from the ceiling,having to sleep at the foot of the man's bed and not say a word,that would no doubt be the worst part.
watch the movie it's all there the underlying theme was there.It had its moment, Dan AKROYD,ROSIE ODONNELL THANKS.......don seems like somewhere along the way that some people got the idea that men can't get mistreated, only women...wrong!.
But tailing the two crooks are two cops (Rosie O'Donnell, Dan Aykroyd) who awkwardly fumble their way around the resort in bondage gear.Meanwhile, the sought after shutterbug has become the head dominatrix's (Dana Delany) brand new submissive.Released in 1994, director Gary Marshall's comedic adaptation of author Anne Rice's erotic thriller was light-years ahead of its time in terms of BDSM.
At some point in time somebody thought it was a decent and sell-able idea to cut a handsome check to dan akroyrd (god bless him for elwood) and rosie o'donnell to put on bondage gear and strut around nude with bad wisecracks for the better part of a ninety minute movie.
A good movie to watch with your female friends but guys may not like it..
Exit to Eden (1994) 1/2 (out of 4)Based on the Ann Rice novel, this film tells the story of an island ran by the beautiful Lisa (Dana Delaney) where all of your sexual desires can come true.
Due to some thieves, police officers played by Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd show up and get caught up in the sexy games.EXIT TO EDEN would turn out to be one of the most controvercial movies from the 1990s not because of its subject matter but because of some really awful casting and apparently it's awful handling of the novel.
It's really hard to believe that the movie could turn out this bad because you'd think, with its subject matter, that you could at least get a few mild laughs from the plot yet that never happens.
You've read it all before: Rosie & Aykroyd are awful.The jokes are as lame as they get.Garry Marshall is vying for the Ed Wood award for worst directors ever.Dana is good, and naked ~ which basically makes this a must~see for her male fans.Watch old "China Beach" reruns instead..
That if they took an Ann Rice s&m novel, overlaid a crime thriller plot on top of it, and then cast comedic performers in the role of the police that it would add up to a movie greater than the sum of its parts?
This smorgasbord of genres does end up being more than the sum of its parts, but going in the direction of greatly awful instead of greatly good.What makes matters worse is all the talent that's wasted here, including Dan Ackroyd and the two charismatic leads, Dana Delany and Paul Mercurio.
Could have been a great movie, but film makers appear to have been too afraid to take the S&M thing head on.
Photographer Elliot Slater (Paul Mercurio) is going to Eden--an island devoted to people who like S&M and BDMS.
On the island the head--Mistress Lisa (Dan Delany)--takes it upon herself to "train Elliot--and starts falling in love which she has vowed never to do.This is an adaptation (a VERY loose one) of an Anne Rice book that is just about sex, bondage, S&M and the love between Elliot and Lisa.
Now, I like O'Donnell and some of her lines ARE funny but the movie's tone keeps zigzagging between comedy, suspense, love and nudity.
One of the things I like best about this movie is that it plays on a lot of the sexual stereotypes and sore subjects that exist in our society while still being fun, entertaining and fairly lighthearted.
I enjoy Rosie O'Donnell and thought she did a great job in this movie, as did Dana Delaney whom I had only seen in "China Beach" aside from this film.
However, if the thought of seeing Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd in bondage outfits seems just dopey enough to see, then you might want to check into it.
It's a movie you look at and think, "How did this ever get made?" Then you watch it and laugh, both at the comedians and the goofy seriousness of the sex scenes.
This movie is quite bizarre, featuring cheesey S&M humor, a silly romance between a guy and a dominatrix, and an S&M utopian island that leaves you longing for civilization.If it weren't for Rosie O'Donnell, the movie would have been a total catastrophe!Bottom Line: Exit from Eden!.
Yes, the humor is bad, but Rosie O'Donnell's voice-overs are very funny.Not something you would be proud to list as a favorite movie, but entertaining if you see it in the right light..
This is one of the 'what were they thinking' films that you just know all participants look back on like a bad drunken performance at a wedding.
The *ONLY* reason the incredibly stupid scenes with Rosie O'Donnell & Dan Aykroyd are in this movie at all is because the studio and/or the director felt that a serious drama involving S&M would make some people uncomfortable.
I quote, «Rosie next co-starred as Betty Rubble in the popular live-action feature version of 'The Flintstones' and was the only thing worth watching in the misguided comedy 'Exit to Eden' (both 1994).» - Vinnie, at the `unofficial rosie o'donnell fan club page'.
It does look longer, though, because the only good moments, and funny moments, are those in which O'Donnell is on screen.Rosie O'Donnell, then a 32 year-old chubby Irish woman, is a pleasure to hear and to watch as undercover cop Sheila, exiting to Eden, an Eden/Eros resort in Hawaii, where very dangerous criminals are hiding Mandatory viewing for her fans but even more, for all those who believe (despite of the media) that chubby women can be both beautiful and luscious.
May be I'm being too critical on what is intended as a romantic, slightly spiced comedy; but in all truth, the only acting I liked came from funny, yet deep, thoughtful Rosie O'Donnell.
Neither - it is a hybrid, mixing the acting and plot of a porn flick with the lameo comedy of Dan Aykroyd, who hasn't had a good role since the "The Blues Brothers."The movie has us following two LAPD detectives trying to stop a crime boss and his entourage from rubbing out a tourist, Elliot Slater, on his way to S&M Island.
As if one terrible plot wasn't good enough, how about another involving Elliot falling in love with the island's head mistress (Delany)?
To make matters worse we have the usually funny and talented Rosie O'Donnell, squeezing into a leather body suit and delivering her lines as if she already knows this movie will be a flop.
Dana whatever her last name was, was fine and good looking and had a sexy figure on her, Rosie O'Donnell was on the edge of funny and stupid I rate this *** out of **** cause of the female erotic.
This film's break for Paul Mercurio, doesn't do much for him, and he doesn't put in much a performance, surpassed by the other three leads, Ackroyd and O'Donnell the best, providing most of the funny moments.
Irritating voiceovers, amateur acting, corny dialogue that a porn star would be embarrassed to deliver, racial stereotypes, gratuitous nudity, hazy dream-like flashbacks, a performance by Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd with a moustache - all the ingredients for a Razzie award-winning film - and win it did!
That's pretty much all that is needed.It's hard to know what aspect of the film drags it down the most, but perennially bad actress Rosie O'Donnell probably takes the...er....Oscar!
I have always thought _Exit to Eden_ Anne Rice's worst book.
Any movie where Dana Delaney gets naked can't be all bad .
Rosie O'Donnell has disavowed this picture (with good reason, although why she allowed herself to appear in it at all, let alone being decked out in S&M leathers, is something only she can answer), Dan Aykroyd can just add this to his long list of career-killing disasters (his latest being Britney Spears' stupefying challenge to the digestive system, "Crossroads"), I don't know (or much care) whatever happened to Paul Mercurio, and Dana Delaney has hopefully gotten a new agent by now.
But as a comedy featuring Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell, this movie is joy and laughter.
Also, this is one of the best movies featuring Rosie O'Donnell.
If you liked "Another Stakeout," you will love this movie.As undercover cops, Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd find themselves on a private island, living the BDSM/Ds lifestyle in the attempts to gather evidence inadvertently obtained by one of the island's submissives.
The acting quality was what you would expect from seasoned professionals like Dana Delaney, Dan Aykroyd, and Rosie O'Donnell; and the sets and depiction of the Lifestyle was very realistic.Dana Delaney is wonderful as the Dominatrix in charge of the island, and Paul Mercurio was a fresh new face to American cinematic production.
If you like the novel, then watch this with an open mind.I loved it as a movie, hated it as an adaptation.I'm rating it at an 8/10.the Fiend :..
having read exit to Eden by Anne Rice the only way they could do the book absolute justice is to make the film and it would be X rated I only available in adult bookstores.
I believe the important characters in the book were left out and instead dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell brought in to bring the quirky comedy to balance out the seriousness of S&M lifestyle.
Her portrayal as a dom was pretty good, granted that some doms are downright vicious, she came across better and let's be honest, anyone here not want to have her in your pool?Rosie was fun, as was Dan.I am not sure they could have filmed the book as it was written.
She and Dan I thought made a pretty good comedy pair.When Iman is in the red leather outfit, she looked hot.
I have never read Anne Rice's novel "Exit to Eden"- indeed, until I saw this film I had never heard of it- but I understand that it is an erotic love story set against the background of the world of sadomasochism.
I enjoyed watching this movie, even though I know it's not a great movie.I thought the acting was good, and the island of Eden was gorgeous.